Overview
- Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court confirmed the crescent and set Wednesday, February 18, 2026 as the first day of fasting, with the UAE announcing the same after its moon‑sighting committee met in Abu Dhabi.
- Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Turkey, Japan, the Philippines and Oman reported no local sighting and officially designated Thursday, February 19 for the first fast.
- Qatar joined Saudi Arabia and the UAE in starting on February 18, while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan moved to February 19 after reporting no sighting.
- Pakistan, India and Bangladesh scheduled their moon‑sighting committees to meet on Wednesday, February 18 to decide their local start dates.
- In the UK, many communities look to Morocco’s ruling, and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich planned a live moonsighting stream on February 18 to support local observation.