A UAE public holiday has been officially announced, and it’s coming up soon!

The UAE government has confirmed that Thursday May 5 will be an official paid holiday for all people working in the UAE.

The holiday marks Isra and Mi’raj day – which actually falls on Wednesday May 4, but the day off has been postponed to fall on a Thursday.

Want to try and plan your holidays now? Here are our predicted dates for all of the public holidays in the UAE in 2016.

The next public holiday will be Eid Al Fitr, which is likely to fall around Thursday July 7.

*MORE: Sheikh Mohammed’s throwback photo shows how much the world has changed* 

WHAT IS ISRA AND MI’RAJ?

Isra and Mi’raj remembers a night journey that Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) took to the “farthest mosque” travelling from Makkah to Jerusalem. He then also ascended to heaven.

According to historical estimates, Mohammed would have taken this journey.t around the year 621. After ascending to heaven he spoke to Allah, who then gave Mohammed instructions to take back regarding the details and practices of prayer.

Today, the night is marked with additional prayers and the use of lights to brighten up the night.

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