The Islamic holy month of Ramadan is a time of reflection and prayer. Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex during the daylight hours in order to focus on spirituality, good deeds, and charity. When the sun sets, communities come together for Iftar, the breaking of the fast. Now that the month has come to a close, Eid al-Fitr, or the festival of the breaking of the fast, begins. We looked at Ramadan earlier this month, but there were just so many more great photographs, we’re doing it again.
More Scenes from Ramadan 2016
-
A Palestinian woman prays in front of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound during the last Friday prayers of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on July 1, 2016. #
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty -
-
The Palestinian owner of a beachside cafe shop decorates its terrace with hanging colorful umbrellas for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Gaza City, on June 8, 2016. #
Hatem Moussa / AP -
-
-
Men read verses of the Quran—Islam's holy book—on the first day of the fasting month of Ramadan in the Grand Mosque in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, on June 6, 2016. #
Hani Mohammed / AP -
A Kashmiri Muslim devotee cries while she prays as a priest displays a relic believed to be of the Prophet Muhammad at the Hazratbal shrine. The relic was presented during the Martyr Day of Hazrat Ali, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on June 27, 2016. The festival coincides with the 21st day of the Islamic holy month Ramadan, when devout Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, and smoking from dawn to dusk. #
Mukhtar Khan / AP -
-
Afghan villagers receive free food donated by other villagers as they prepare to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 9, 2016. #
Rahmat Gul / AP -
A man applies cosmetic kohl on another man's eyelid during the holy month of Ramadan in the grand mosque in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, on June 23, 2016. Kohl is used in the Middle East as protection against eye ailments. #
Hani Mohammed / AP -
-
Muslims gather to offer prayers at the central mosque in Moscow on July 5, 2016, during celebrations for Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. #
Alexander Utkin / AFP / Getty -
Iranian women perform their noon prayers in a mosque at the shrine of Shiite Saint Abdulazim during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran, Iran, on June 12, 2016. #
Vahid Salemi / AP -
Three youths take advantage of a public shower to cool off from the summer heat during the holy, fasting month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims abstain from food and water during daylight hours, in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 11, 2016. #
Karim Kadim / AP -
-
Students perform a prayer on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Ar-Raudlatul Hasanah Islamic boarding school in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on June 6, 2016. #
Binsar Bakkara / AP -
Iranian Shiite Muslims pray as they place the Quran on their heads at the graves of soldiers who were killed during 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, at the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, just outside Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 27, 2016. Iranian Muslims spent the night in prayer and devotion commemorating Laylat Al Qadr, or the Night of Power, which is the anniversary of the night that Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad received the first revelation of the Quran by the angel Gabriel. #
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP -
-
A Bangladeshi roadside fruit vendor covers his shop with a plastic sheet as Muslim devotees buy food from a market to break the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 7, 2016. #
A.M. Ahad / AP -
-
An Iraqi policeman from Anbar province prays after breaking his Ramadan fast at Camp Tariq outside Fallujah, Iraq, on June 7, 2016. He is part of the Iraqi security forces involved in an operation to oust Islamic State militants from Fallujah. #
Maya Alleruzzo / AP -
-
Students read the Koran outdoors by oil lamp to celebrate "Nuzul al-Koran" or "The Revelation of the Koran," on the 17th day of the holy month of Ramadan that the first verse of the Koran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad, in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, on June 21, 2016. #
Antara Photo Agency / Reuters -
A Kashmiri Muslim woman, seen through her veil, raises her hands in prayers as a head priest displays a relic believed to be of the prophet Muhammad at the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on June 27, 2016. #
Mukhtar Khan / AP -
-
Bangladeshi Muslims walk on a carpet laid out to save them from the heat as they arrive at Baitul Mukarram mosque to offer prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 10, 2016. #
A.M. Ahad / AP -
A Lebanese family takes a selfie in front of street decorations in preparation for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on June 4, 2016. #
Mohammed Zaatari / AP -
-
A Bahraini man and his son look for the new moon that marks the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan along the Persian Gulf coast, in Karzakan, Bahrain, on June 5, 2016. #
Hasan Jamali / AP -
-
Parents watch their children slide down an inflatable slide during a street fest in the immigrant-heavy Neukoelln district to celebrate the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan on July 5, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin is home to tens of thousands of Muslims, including Turks and Arabs, and the population has risen over the past year as large numbers of refugees from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan have recieved asylum and are seeking to make Berlin their new home. #
Sean Gallup / Getty -
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.