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Important holidays/occasions/festivities
celebrated in Afghanistan
The religious holidays in Afghanistan are celebrated according to the lunar calendar, and other holidays such as Independence day, and New Year's day are celebrated based on the solar calendar. During many holidays, Afghans usually visit friends and families, prepare lavish meals, and attend special prayers.
EID AL-FITR
Day: After a month of Fasting (Ramadan).
Many start out the day by wearing new clothes, and going to prayer. Afterwards, people visit or entertain their friends and families. Children usually receive gifts or money called "Eidi".
EID AL-ADHA
Day: Tenth day of the twelfth month of the Islamic (Hijra) calendar.
The day commemorates the Prophet Abraham's devotion to God. He was willing to slay his son Ismael as a sacrifice. Ismael was never killed, instead, Allah provided a lamb for the sacrifice. Muslims performing the Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca) sacrifice a lamb, and the meat is given out to the poor. This holiday is celebrated in the same fashion as Eid al-Fitr, people visit friends and families, gifts are exchanged, etc.
ASHURA
Day: Tenth day of the month Muharram in the Islamic calendar.
This is a day of mourning. It commemorates the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussain and his followers at the battle of Kerbala.
MAWLEED AL-NABI
Day: The 12th day of the month Rabi al-Awal in the Islamic calendar.
On this day, people celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday. They attend prayers, remember Muhammad, and entertain/visit friends and familiy.
NOWROZE
Day: March 21
This is the first day of spring (New Year's Day for the solar calendar).
JESHEN
Day: August 19
August 19 marks Afghan independence day. Even though, Afghanistan was never a British colony, the British did have control of its foreign policy due to an agreement signed by a former Afghan King. The Third Anglo-Afghan War ended this agreement.
Other holidays:
Labor Day
Remembrance Day for Maryrs and Disabled (May 4).
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Religious
Holidays : Bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays based
on certain religious calendars are subject to local variations due
to differing interpretations between different religious authorities,
or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated
because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another
calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious
(bad luck), To find out more about these uncertainties, see the specific
footnote, if any, for each holiday. |
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Muslim
Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays
for Afghanistan were evaluated using the Umm
al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia which is used in Saudi Arabia
and in most of the Persian Gulf States. Holidays may occur a day later
in countries outside the Gulf region. The sunrises, sunsets, moon
phases, moonrises and moonsets used in these calculations are based
on the location of Mecca (latitude 21.42°N, longitude, 39.82°E, GMT+3
hours, no summer time rules). For more details on Muslim holidays,
. For Salat (prayer times) calculations, see our Freeware
link at the left of this page. |
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Solar
Holidays : The calculation of equinoxes, solstices, sunrises and
sunsets used to predict solar bank holidays, legal holidays and public
holidays for Afghanistan are based on the geographical location of
Kabul (latitude 34.5°N, longitude 69.2°E, GMT+4.5 hours, no Summer
Time rules). Note that many countries in South-East Asia are progressively
changing the recurrence rule of some of their lunar/solar holidays
to rules based on fixed dates of the Western (Gregorian) calendar.
Therefore, while the dates predicted above for 2007 and beyond are
currently technically correct, the rules of these holidays may change
in the next few years. For more details on lunar and solar holidays,
see the Lunisolar Footnotes link at the left
of this page. |
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