In Photos: Ramadan around the world
This year’s Ramadan saw more than 1.8 billion Muslims observe the Islamic month of fasting, prayer and charity. The start of the month each year depends on the sighting of the crescent moon by local religious authorities and astronomers, and can sometimes vary from country to country. This year it started on March 22. For the next 30 days, Muslims refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset. After the last day of fasting, Eid al-Fitr, a festive three-day holiday, is celebrated worldwide.
Worshippers raise their hands in supplication during the final prayer of the night, known as Witr, at Abu Huraira Mosque in Toronto on April 19, 2023.Yasin Osman/The Globe and Mail
Worshippers, as well as locals, wait in line to receive their meals for Suhoor, the pre-dawn meal that marks the beginning of the fast. Anyone who walks in is offered a traditional meal of beans, eggs and sweets served free of charge at Abu Huraira Mosque in Toronto on April 20, 2023.Yasin Osman/The Globe and Mail
Muslims performing evening prayers on the 29th Ramadan at the Grand Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, onApril 20, 2023.SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/Reuters
A child opens the Koran during prayers at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of April 18, 2023 on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), one of the holiest nights during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images
A woman waves a Turkish flag as she waits for Iftar, breaking of the fast, organised by the Uskudar Municipality, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Istanbul, Turkey on April 17, 2023.DILARA SENKAYA/Reuters
A group of Muslim and non-Muslim hikers shares an Iftar (breaking fast) meal at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan at the Fossil Rock Nature Reserve in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on April 15, 2023.AMR ALFIKY/Reuters
Afghan women collect free bread from a charity during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul on April 13, 2023.WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
An Egyptian dancer performs the Tanoura, an Egyptian version of Sufi dance at Al Ghouri Palace in the old Islamic area of Cairo, Egypt on April 12, 2023.MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY/Reuters
A woman reads from the Koran, Islam's holy book, as she and others attend the ritual prayers for Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), one of the holiest nights during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, outside the Imamzadeh Saleh mosque in Tehran, on April 10, 2023.ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images
A man and his children stand in front of a crescent moon-shaped decoration placed in the town of Ulcinj on April 9, 2023.ARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images
Shi'ite worshippers place copies of the Koran on their heads during the holy month of Ramadan, at Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, Iraq, on April 9, 2023.THAIER AL-SUDANI/Reuters
A boy stands as Muslim devotees pray at sunset in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa on April 8, 2023.AFP Contributor#AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Men bring food to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, April 7, 2023.Marwan Ali/The Associated Press
Sudanese gather for iftar, fast-breaking meal, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in a park in Khartoum on April 8, 2023.ASHRAF SHAZLY
Palestinian worshippers perform "tarawih," an extra lengthy prayer held during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, next to the Dome of Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, on April 8, 2023.Mahmoud Illean/The Associated Press
A woman prays as Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on the compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary in Jerusalem's Old City on April 7, 2023.AMMAR AWAD/Reuters
Palestinians break their fast with a collective Iftar meal in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 3, 2023.MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images
Muslims break their fast at Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Or Independence Square) during the holy month of Ramadan on April 2, 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Annice Lyn/Getty Images
Muslim girls hold up balloons with Arabic that reads, "Ramadan Mubarak," during street performances celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Sidon, Lebanon, on April 1, 2023.Mohammad Zaatari/The Associated Press
Worshippers gathered for Friday prayer at a mosque in Ukraine near the eastern frontline, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 31, 2023.GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images
People affected by the February 6 earthquake attend a mass "Iftar" fast-breaking dinner in the town of Atareb in the rebel-held western countryside of Aleppo province, on March 31, 2023.AAREF WATAD
Muslim worshippers reach for a blessing as they touch the Maqam Ibrahim (Station of Abraham) at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca during the second Friday prayers in the holy month of Ramadan on March 31, 2023.ABDEL GHANI BASHIR/AFP/Getty Images
A Muslim woman reads a copy of the Koran on the fourth day of the holy month of Ramadan at the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta on March 26, 2023.ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images
Muslims attend Friday prayer on the first day of Ramadan at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 24, 2023.MOHAMMAD PONIR HOSSAIN/Reuters
A muslim devotee reads the Quran as he offers Friday prayers at the Adams Masjid and Islamic Centre Mosque on the second day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Nairobi on March 24, 2023.SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images
A volunteer prepares Iftar food for Muslim devotees to break their fast at the Data Darbar shrine on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, in Lahore on March 23, 2023.ARIF ALI/AFP/Getty Images
Indonesian Muslims perform an evening prayer called 'tarawih' marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 22, 2023.achmad ibrahim/The Associated Press
A man looks at members of the Malaysian Islamic authority as they perform the "Rukyah Hilal Ramadan," the sighting of the new moon to determine the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 22, 2023.Vincent Thian/The Associated Press
A Palestinian woman takes photos of her daughter next to a crescent moon-shaped decoration in a market, at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2023.Fatima Shbair
Muslim men look for the position of the moon on the roof of Al-Musyari'in mosque to mark the first day of holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 22, 2023.WILLY KURNIAWAN/Reuters