Millions of Muslims around the world have found different ways to celebrate Ramadan this year, as restrictions imposed by countries to curb the spread of the coronavirus have closed mosques and banned gatherings.
This is when the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset.
Families and friends usually gather to break the fast and many attend prayers.
This year, however, people are having to mark the holy month at home instead.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and it started on or around Thursday. In parts of the world particularly hard hit by the virus, this year’s celebrations are tinged with sadness.
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound has been closed to worshippers since mid-March and will not open during Ramadan. Even Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has been affected by the pandemic.
