Kelantan declares 25 April an additional holiday, in lieu of Hari Raya Aidilfitri falling on 22 April

Singapore Indonesia, Thailand, and India will also begin Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2023 on Saturday, as no crescent moon was spotted at sunset on 20 April.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2023 day one will fall on 22 April (Saturday) in Malaysia, as confirmed by the Keeper of the Rulers' Seal and Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia on Thursday (20 April). 

In lieu of this, the State Government of Kelantan has declared 25 April (Tuesday) an additional holiday in the state.

This comes as the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim declared earlier this week that either Friday (21 April) or Monday (24 April) will be an additional day of holiday in Malaysia, depending on when the first day of Aidilfitri is. With weekends in Kelantan falling on Fridays and Saturdays, the additional day in Kelantan will be on Tuesday instead.

Similarly, Johor's Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi announced on Thursday that Monday (24 April) will be an additional day of holiday in the state in accordance with Sections 8 and 9 of the Holidays Act 1951 (Act 369).

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2023 in neighbouring markets

Across and over the seas, the respective religious councils in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India have also declared 22 April as the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2023.

• In Singapore, this was announced by Mufti Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir on Thursday (20 April), who noted: "Following the astronomical calculations, based on the criteria of imkanur rukyah, the crescent for the month of Syawal (Hari Raya) is unlikely to be seen above the horizon of Singapore at sunset this evening."
• In Indonesia, Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas also shared that the decision on Eid ul-Fitr came "based on the calculation of the position of the crescent moon throughout Indonesia above the horizon, and not meeting the new MABIMS (Ministry of Religion of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore) criteria, as well as the absence of reports of seeing the crescent moon.
• Meanwhile, Thailand's Sheikhul Islam Aziz Phitakkumpon further affirmed that the new crescent moon has not been sighted, thus the declaration, as reported by Bernama. 
• Finally, over in India, according to Times Now, Eid ul-Fitr was declared across State governments, upon confirming that no crescent moon was sighted on the evening of 20 April.

As further reported by Times Now, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand have declared today (Friday, 21 April 2023) the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2023 following the sighting of the moon on Thursday evening, while Japan and Australia will celebrate it on 22 April.

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