Written in the stars: Public Holidays

If you want to know when you have a day off in the UAE, you may have to look up at the sky. This is because Muslim festivals are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon. So the expression "to look up" the dates of holidays really makes sense here, as they are, well, sort of written in the stars...

I learned this when I wanted to know whether or not I would have a long weekend soon with the Prophet Mohammed's birthday coming up. This year, I found, the public holidays will be around these days (approximative dates):

1 Jan New Year's Day.
7 Jan Ashoura.
9 Mar Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet).
20 Jul Leilat al-Meiraj (Ascension of the Prophet).
21 Sep Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan).
28 Nov Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).
2 Dec National Day.
18 Dec Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year).
27 Dec Ashoura.

BUT reading the Gulf News today (another of the big quality English nationals), I learned that this year's holiday celebrating the Birth of the Prophet has just been moved to this week, Saturday. Which already is a free day at my company anyway. What a pity.

Interestingly, it seems that public holidays also depend on whether or not you work for authorities and government - as, according to the ministry of labour, the reason for the change, being announced yesterday, is to "make the private sector holiday ... more coherent with the public sector holiday, which falls on March 8". Two sectors, two holidays. Makes sense. But it's still the same prophet, right? ;-)