Muhammad Ahmed shared at 09:07:53 am on August 28, 2010 |

The Pillars of Islam say that Muslims should fast during daylight hours during the holy month of Ramadan. The daily fast is broken after the sunset prayer “al-maghreb” with an “iftar”, the Arabic word for “breakfast”. Muslims are also told to strive to read the entire Qur’an during the month of Ramadan. Subsequently, much of a Muslim’s free time during this month is spent in the mosque, reading and praying. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a large community congregation on Eid al-Fitr. There are specific prayers, celebrations, etc that can vary by location.

Symbolizing the faith of Islam, the crescent moon is seen at sunset on top of the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan.

A Palestinian man reads from the Koran, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in a mosque in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Indonesian men attend Friday prayer at Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Jordanian Muslim girls queue in line outside a humanitarian center for waiting for meals to be donated at the time for the breaking of their fast, or Iftar.

A Palestinian woman is seen on her way to pray for the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Palestinian women lead young girls through the Kalandia checkpoint, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, to cross to Jerusalem to attend Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosques compound.

Israeli border police hold back Palestinians on their way to pray for the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, at Kalandia checkpoint.

Palestinian women walk past men (on the other side of the fence) waiting to cross a checkpoint to get into Israel in order to pray for the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

A stall worker preparing roasted chicken wings to be sold at a Ramadan bazaar in downtown Kuala Lumpur for the breaking of their fast. In Muslim households across Asia, the inflation crisis is casting a shadow over the holy month of Ramadan, and making the nightly ritual of breaking the fast a more meagre affair. From Afghanistan to Malaysia, the high prices of food are forcing the poor to go without, and curtailing the lavish evening buffets which the well-off have flocked to in better economic times.

Kashmiri Muslims pray inside the Jamia Masjid, or Grand Mosque, on the first Friday of Ramadan in Srinagar.

A Pakistani man prepares sweet drinks for people to break their fast at a mosque during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Lahore.

A Palestinian boy holds a homemade sparkler firework after breaking his fast at the end of the second day of Ramadan in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

A seller of traditional Syrian sweets calls out for customers in the Meidan quarter of Damascus. Sales of the sweets go up during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A Muslim woman reads a copy of the Koran at the Istiqlal mosque during the second day of ramadan in Jakarta, Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

In a pre-Ramadan tradition, Bosnian Muslim girls wash their face with water from cave as local tradition claims that the water and prayers inside the cave will bring personal beauty and success for the year, near the Bosnian town of Kladanj, 50 kms north of Sarajevo, Bosnia.

A Bangladeshi vendor sells traditional sweet meats for breaking the Ramadan fast, at the Chalk bazaar in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

An Egyptian family looks to buy a “Fanus Ramadan”, a traditional lantern popular during Ramadan, at a shop in el-Sayeda Zaynab district of downtown Cairo.

A Palestinian Muslim girl prays in the men’s mosque before the evening prayer called “tarawih”, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

A Pakistani man offers Friday prayers atop a mosque roof during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in Peshawar, Pakistan.

A man has his eyes smeared with traditional Kohl eyeliner before Friday prayers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

Workers sew prayer caps in a factory in old Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prayer caps have huge demand during the holy month of Ramadan.

Kashmiri Muslims offer prayers inside the Jamia Masjid, or Grand Mosque, on the first Friday of Ramadan in Srinagar.

A child prepares food for Iftar (evening meal) before the breaking of fast on the first day of Ramadan at Memon Mosque in Karachi, Pakistan.

Lebanese “Musaharati” Mohammed Fanas wakes up observant Muslims for their overnight “suhur” meal before the day’s fast in Sidon’s Old City in south Lebanon just before dawn.

Visually impaired Palestinian students read verses of the Koran, Islam’s holiest book, written in Braille, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Al-Qabas Islamic school in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Workers dry vermicelli, a specialty eaten during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, India.

A Kashmiri man rests after performing prayers inside the shrine of Sufi saint, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani, during Ramadan in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir .

Thai Muslim children pray at a mosque during Ramadan in Narathiwat province in Thailand.

Afghan men offer prayers on a hill top overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A worker prepares traditional sweets at a pastry shop in Tehran, Iran on the fifth day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Muslim women attend prayers on the eve of the first day of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan at a mosque in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia.

A Pakistani labourer stacks bananas being kept in increased quantities for the holy month of Ramadan in the storeroom of a fruit market in Islamabad, Pakistan.

A boy sleeps in a mosque while waiting to break his fast on the first day of Ramadan in Makassar, Indonesia.

A Muslim man arranges bowls of a traditional dessert called kheer for sale outside a mosque before the evening prayers on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, Indian-administered Kashmir.

Muslims shop for Iftar, the sunset dinner that breaks the fast at Chalk Bazaar, the traditional Iftar market in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Palestinian vendors prepare trays of sweets for Ramadan, in a shop in the West Bank city of Nablus.

An Iraqi baker prepares sweets for the holy month of Ramadan in Baghdad, Iraq.

Kashmiri Muslim offer prayer on a street in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, Indian-administered Kashmir.

A man takes a nap in between prayers at a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Jordanian workers make qatayef, a pancake-like shell filled with nuts or sweet cheese, fried in oil or baked, then dipped in sugary syrup in Amman, Jordan.

A Pakistani Muslim arranges food stuff for Iftar, a time to break the fast, on the first day of Ramadan, as a child looks on at a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan.

Indonesian Muslim children parade during a ceremony called “Prayer for the Country” to welcome the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Muslim men break their fast at a mosque in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah.

A Muslim man sits before breaking his fast on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in Agartala, capital of India’s northeastern state of Tripura.

A crescent moon is seen behind the King Hussein Bin Talal Mosque in Amman, Jordan.