Holidays in November 2026 in Pakistan: Iqbal Day 9 November and Every Optional Date

Pakistan has one public holiday in November 2026: Allama Iqbal Day on Monday 9 November. Federal offices, banks and most schools close that day, and for anyone on a five-day week it makes a three-day weekend from Saturday 7 to Monday 9 November. Two optional holidays for minorities also fall in November: Diwali on the same Monday and the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji on Tuesday 24 November.

We read the Cabinet Division's circular "Public and Optional Holidays for the Year 2026", dated 19 January 2026, on 24 October 2026. It is the official list for the federal government, and its copy goes to every provincial Chief Secretary. Below you will find each November date, who gets it off, what stays open, and how to tell a real holiday notice from a fake one before you plan a trip.

Iqbal Day on Monday 9 November is the only public holiday in November 2026

The Cabinet Division circular lists Allama Iqbal Day as public holiday number 10 of 2026, on Monday 9 November. It is a fixed calendar date, not a moon-based one, so it will not move. No other public holiday falls in November this year.

That is the short answer most people want. The longer one matters if you work in a bank, run a shop, or have a child in a private school, because "public holiday" does not mean every door in the country shuts.

For the whole year, including the dates already gone, the full list of public holidays in Pakistan for 2026 has every notification side by side.

Diwali and Guru Nanak's birthday are optional holidays, not days off for everyone

Optional holidays are granted one person at a time. The circular says a government servant needs the head of office's prior permission, and gets at most one optional holiday a year if Muslim, or three if non-Muslim. Minority staff "should not ordinarily be refused" one of religious significance.

This year Diwali lands on Iqbal Day itself, so Hindu staff in federal offices lose nothing: the whole office is closed anyway. Guru Nanak Dev Ji's birthday on Tuesday 24 November is a working day for everyone else. A Sikh employee who wants it off should ask in writing a few days ahead.

The High Court of Sindh published the same 22 optional dates for the courts in Sindh in its notification of 2 February 2026, with the same one-or-three limit. So the rule is not only a federal one.

Banks, schools and offices close on 9 November, but hospitals do not

On a public holiday federal offices close, and banks normally close too. The State Bank of Pakistan usually confirms each closure in a short press release a few days before. Hospital emergencies, police and other essential services keep working.

We checked the State Bank's press release list on 24 October 2026. It has no notice for 9 November 2026 yet. That is normal: for Eid Milad-un-Nabi it posted the closure only on 25 August 2026, one day before the holiday. Expect the Iqbal Day notice in the first week of November.

• Banks: closed for the public on public holidays. Use the app, ATM or Raast for urgent transfers. Branch rules and Saturday openings are explained in bank timings in Pakistan for 2026.
• Government schools: follow the federal list in practice. Private schools set their own calendar, so read the school's own message.
• Passport offices: regular offices close on public holidays, but the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports runs eight offices round the clock, listed under passport office timings.
• Private employers: not bound by the Cabinet Division list. Factory and shop workers fall under provincial labour law, covered in leave entitlement at work in Pakistan.

Iqbal Day gives a three-day weekend from 7 to 9 November

Because 9 November 2026 is a Monday, staff on a five-day week are off on Saturday 7, Sunday 8 and Monday 9 November. Offices on a six-day week, such as many schools and health departments, get Sunday and Monday only. Work resumes on Tuesday 10 November.

Plan around two other things in that week. The first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka starts at 9:30 am PKT on the same Monday, as set out in the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Test timings. And the national polio campaign runs from 2 to 8 November, so vaccination teams may still be finishing visits that weekend.

Travel tip, plainly: motorway and bus bookings fill early for a long weekend. Book by Wednesday 4 November if you are going home.

A separate notice is not needed, but it has happened before

The January circular already makes 9 November a public holiday, so the government does not have to announce it again. In 2024, when Iqbal Day fell on a Saturday, the Cabinet Division still issued a short notice confirming the holiday across the country.

We read that 2024 notice on the Cabinet Division's latest news page: "Saturday, the 9th November, 2024 shall be a public holiday throughout the country on the occasion of Allama Iqbal Day." In 2025 the day fell on a Sunday and we found no separate notice. For 2026, the circular is the authority until anything replaces it.

Viral messages about "extra holidays" in November will appear. In October a claimed holiday on 14, 15 and 16 October did the rounds and turned out to have no notification, as we reported in no public holiday on 14, 15 or 16 October.

How to confirm a November holiday yourself in two minutes

Check the issuing office, not a forwarded image. Federal holidays come from the Cabinet Division, provincial closures from each province's Services and General Administration Department, and school closures from the province's education department or a district deputy commissioner.

1. Open the Cabinet Division public holidays page and look for the date in the newest file.
2. Check the State Bank press releases for a bank closure notice.
3. For a school, read the education department or the school's own message, not a WhatsApp forward.
4. Look for a notification number, a date and a signing officer. A real notice has all three.
5. If the image has none of these, treat it as a rumour until an official page carries it.

Common questions

Is 9 November 2026 a holiday in Pakistan?

Yes. Allama Iqbal Day, Monday 9 November 2026, is a public holiday in the Cabinet Division's 2026 circular. Federal offices and banks close.

How many public holidays are there in November 2026?

One. Iqbal Day on 9 November is the only public holiday. Diwali and Guru Nanak Dev Ji's birthday are optional holidays.

Are banks closed on Iqbal Day 2026?

Banks normally close on public holidays, and the State Bank confirms it a few days before. Its notice for 9 November had not been posted when we checked on 24 October 2026.

Is Diwali a public holiday in Pakistan in 2026?

No, it is an optional holiday on Monday 9 November for Hindu staff. This year it falls on Iqbal Day, so offices are closed anyway.

Do private schools close on 9 November?

Most do, but private schools set their own calendars. The school's own message is the one to trust.

When is the next holiday after 9 November?

Quaid-e-Azam Day and Christmas on Friday 25 December 2026, followed by the Day after Christmas on Saturday 26 December for Christians only.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the Cabinet Division circular F.No. 10-1/2025-Min-II of 19 January 2026, a scanned file on the Cabinet Division holidays page, on 24 October 2026, and its latest news list with the 2024 Iqbal Day notice. We also read the High Court of Sindh holiday notification No. GAZ/XVII.3(v) of 2 February 2026 and the State Bank of Pakistan press release list, which had no 9 November 2026 notice yet. We could not confirm provincial school notices for 9 November, because the Punjab and Sindh education sites did not open for us. Weekdays are our own calendar check.