Higher Islamic Shiite Council says Ramadan will begin on Thursday, Feb. 19

BEIRUT — Higher Islamic Shiite Council, the highest authority for the community in Lebanon, announced Wednesday that the month of Ramadan will begin on Thursday, Feb. 19, for Shiites.

The office of Shiite dignitary Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, as well as the mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdellatif Derian (Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni religious authority in Lebanon), had both announced Tuesday that the first day of Ramadan will fall on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Fadlallah's office added that Friday, March 20, 2026, will therefore be the day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

During Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, believers are invited to abstain from drinking, eating, smoking, and having sexual relations from dawn until sunset.

Muslims are also called to give alms to the poor, zakat al-Fitr. Ramadan ends with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the "Festival of Breaking the Fast."