The Sultan of Sokoto,\u00a0Alhaji Muhammad Saa\u2019d Abubakar, has officially declared the beginning of the holy month of\u00a0Ramadan \u00a0following the sighting of the new crescent moon, setting the stage for Muslims across Nigeria to begin fasting from\u00a0 Wednesday, February 18, 2026. The announcement was made in a statement issued on Tuesday by the\u00a0Wazirin Sokoto, Prof. Sambo Wali Junaidu, who chairs the Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs of the Sultanate Council. He explained that the declaration followed confirmed reports from moon-sighting committees across the country.<\/p>\n
The Sultan congratulated the Muslim community, praying for Allah\u2019s guidance, mercy, and blessings throughout the 29 or 30 days of fasting, spiritual reflection, charity, and Quranic recitation that Ramadan brings. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, commemorates the revelation of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia Leads with Crescent Moon Confirmation<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the\u00a0Supreme Court\u00a0announced late Tuesday that the crescent moon confirming the start of\u00a0Ramadan 1447 AH\u00a0was sighted across parts of the Kingdom, officially marking\u00a0Wednesday, February 18\u00a0as the first day of fasting. The announcement follows centuries-old Islamic tradition where moon sighting by credible observers determines the beginning of the lunar month rather than astronomical calculations alone.<\/p>\n
Across the Kingdom, mosques have prepared for special nightly\u00a0Taraweeh\u00a0 prayers to begin on Tuesday after the Isha prayer, ushering in the spiritual month dedicated to dawn-to-sunset fasting, increased worship, charitable giving, and community gatherings. Government agencies and private sectors are set to implement revised work schedules to accommodate Ramadan observances.<\/p>\n
While many countries, particularly in the\u00a0Middle East, have aligned with the Saudi announcement, global observances may vary due to geographical and traditional differences in sighting the new moon. In parts of\u00a0South Asia\u00a0– including \u00a0India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh –\u00a0local committees may determine the first day of Ramadan on\u00a0Thursday, February 19, 2026, due to timing of the crescent\u2019s visibility.<\/p>\n
Islamic communities in\u00a0Europe and North America\u00a0also sometimes begin fasting on different days depending on whether local sightings or astronomical calculations are followed, reflecting diverse jurisprudential approaches within the global Muslim community.<\/p>\n
Ramadan 2026 Observance Worldwide<\/p>\n
Ramadan is expected to last for\u00a029 or 30 days, concluding with the festival of\u00a0Eid ul-Fitr\u00a0in late\u00a0March 2026, depending on the sighting of the next crescent that marks the beginning of\u00a0Shawwal. Fasting hours vary globally, with daylight periods ranging from about\u00a011\u00bd to 15\u00bd hours\u00a0depending on latitude and time of year.<\/p>\n
Muslims around the world now prepare for a period of devotion that strengthens faith, community bonds, and charitable engagement in this most sacred month of the Islamic year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sultan of Sokoto,\u00a0Alhaji Muhammad Saa\u2019d Abubakar, has officially declared the beginning of the holy month of\u00a0Ramadan \u00a0following the sighting of the new crescent moon, setting the stage for Muslims across Nigeria to begin fasting from\u00a0 Wednesday, February 18, 2026. The announcement was made in a statement issued on Tuesday by the\u00a0Wazirin Sokoto, Prof. Sambo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":97746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772,7],"tags":[249,7018,3820,618],"class_list":["post-97744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","category-news","tag-nigeria","tag-ramadan","tag-saudi-arabia-2","tag-sultan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/97746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}