Customers buying pastries before the start of Ramadan, in Beirut, March 30, 2022. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir / Reuters)
BEIRUT — The first day of Eid al-Fitr will be on Monday, May 2, Shiite cleric Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah’s office announced in a statement on Saturday.
Here’s what we know:
• Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Sunday, April 3 for the Shiite communities in Lebanon and other countries such as Iraq or Iran.
• During Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, believers are asked to abstain from drinking, eating, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset. Muslims are also called upon to pay alms for the poor, the Zakat al-Fitr. Ramadan ends with Eid al-Fitr, the celebration of the "breaking of the fast"