The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began on Friday and Saturday evening for hundreds of millions of Muslims who waited to observe the new crescent moon that marks the official start of a lunar month.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country – set Saturday, March 1, as their first day of fasting.
They were joined by Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Sudan and Tunisia, as well as the Palestinian Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank.
Sunni Muslims in Lebanon also began fasting on Saturday.
Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Ali al-Sistani, declared Sunday the first day of Ramadan.
Morocco, South Africa, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also started observing the daytime fast on Sunday.
In Pakistan and India, moon sightings mainly took place on Saturday evening and fasting followed on Sunday.
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Fasting in Ramadan is one of the main pillars and roots of Islam, regardless of sect. It requires devout Muslims – who are able – to refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset each day of the month.
Believers also abstain from other discouraged behaviour while fasting and make an added effort to donate time and money, contribute to the community, and take part in extra prayers and fundraising.
Traditionally, people gather in the evenings to break their fast together in a meal called iftar. And at the end of the month, Muslims celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival.
This year, the start of Ramadan coincides with the expiration of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire that temporarily paused the 15-month-long war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.
Images showed residents shopping and preparing for Ramadan amid the ruins of the largely destroyed coastal strip.
Ramadan is considered a time of heightened tensions, particularly in the occupied Palestinian Territories and Jerusalem.
Hamas has called on its supporters to increase their presence at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during Ramadan. The mosque is regarded as Islam’s third holiest site after the al-Haram Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, both in Saudi Arabia.
In Syria, this is the first Ramadan after decades of rule by the al-Assad clan. In the capital, Damascus, and nationwide, people experienced an unprecedented rush on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.
For the first time in 50 years, experts gathered on a mountain north of Damascus to observe the crescent moon and determine the beginning of Ramadan.
