Mother's Day 2019: Why is it celebrated on different dates?

Many nations in the West are celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday, nearly two months after the occasion was marked in Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and other countries in the Middle East.

Mother's Day is an international date honouring mothers and the influence of mothers in society.

Initially a US holiday, Mother's Day has become widely popular in various countries around the world.

Cynics say its success is mostly commercially driven, with businesses worldwide taking inspiration from the United States, and thriving on extra sales of flowers and gifts.

But why is it celebrated on different dates in different countries?

Middle East

Mother's Day in most countries in the Arab world is celebrated on March 21, the first day of spring.

In the Middle East, the celebration first started in Egypt in 1956, after Mustafa Amin, an Arab journalist, wrote about it in his book, A Smiling America.

However, it was not until 10 years later that a woman who visited Amin's brother, Ali, spoke about the hardships she faced as a single mother.

The story inspired Ali to bring back his brother's idea and he wrote about the importance of recognising mothers and their work.

"Why don't we choose a day of the year to be 'Mother's Day' where we celebrate them in our country [Egypt] and other eastern nations," he wrote, according to local reports.

Shortly after, the idea gained popularity, and in 1956, Akhbar el-Yom newspaper's March 9 front page acknowledged the date, indicating it would be celebrated on March 21.

Since then, the practice was copied in most other Arab countries.

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