Wednesday, August 11 is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and most of the GCC countries. Wednesday is also the first day of Ramadan in Tunisia, Libya and Algeria.
Other Islamic countries such as Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia also started the fasting month of Ramadan on Wednesday.
The Shiites will start Ramadan on Thursday. According to the office of Imam Khamenei religious representative in Lebanon, since Ramadan's crescent moon was not sighted on Tuesday night, the holy month will start Thursday, August 12. The Sunnis in Iraq start to fast on Wednesday while the Shiites on Thursday. Oman is the only GCC country who start Ramadan on Thursday.
