This year’s Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting and prayer, will come to a close on on April 20 with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the festival of the breaking of the fast. For the past month, Muslims around the world have refrained from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex during daylight hours in order to focus on spiritual reflection, prayers, and charity. Collected below are photographs of Muslims around the world observing Ramadan this year.
Images of Ramadan 2023
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![A woman prays outside a mosque.]()
Read moreA woman prays during a gathering for the ritual Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny) prayers, on one of the holiest nights of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, outside the Imamzadeh Saleh mosque in Tehran, Iran, on April 10, 2023. #
Atta Kenare / AFP / Getty -
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![A large crowd sits at a long table in a street, enjoying a meal.]()
Read moreEgyptians gather for a communal iftar in Ezbet Hamada, in Matariya, on April 6, 2023, in Cairo, Egypt. #
Fadel Dawod / Getty -
![A person kneels inside a glass observation deck.]()
Read moreA 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 / AP -
![A large crowd gathers for prayers in Times Square.]()
Read moreHundreds of Muslims break their fast and offer congregational tarawih prayers, in New York City's Times Square, on March 25, 2023. #
Selcuk Acar / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![A person carries a tray full of food up a flight of stairs.]()
Read moreA volunteer distributes food for Iftar on the fourth day of Ramadan, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on March 26, 2023. The food, bought with donations, will be distributed to nearly 500 people at the Jamiatul Haque Mosque. #
Carmen Abd Ali / AFP / Getty -
![A person walks among decorative pillars beside a reflecting pond.]()
Read moreA person arrives for sunset Maghrib prayers at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on March 28, 2023. #
Amr Alfiky / Reuters -
![Several children hold small lanterns.]()
Read moreChildren hold Ramadan lanterns in Iraq's Old City of Mosul on March 22, 2021. #
Ismael Adnan Yaqoob / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![Several plates heaped with sweet treats]()
Read moreConfectioners work to meet increasing demand during Ramadan, in Mosul, Iraq, on March 25, 2023. #
Ismael Adnan Yaqoob / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A person stirs one of dozens of large pots of food, cooking over open fires.]()
Read moreFood is prepared by the Saaberie Chishty Society for people in need, to be distributed every day during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Lenesia suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 16, 2023. #
Ihsaan Haffejee / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A person kneels to place plates of food atop hundreds of plates already laid out.]()
Read moreA volunteer prepares Iftar food for Muslim devotees at the Data Darbar shrine, in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 23, 2023. #
Arif Ali / AFP / Getty -
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![A person stands beside a donkey with a drum. Both are draped in colored light strings.]()
Read moreMohammed El-Dahshan, a "Mesaharati," or dawn caller, accompanies his donkey wrapped in colored LED lights to wake Muslims up for a meal before sunrise, during Ramadan, in the Delta city of Dikernis, North of Cairo, Egypt, on April 12, 2023. #
Amr Nabil / AP -
![A group of men and boys kneel in prayer.]()
Read moreMuslim worshippers perform the first Tarawih prayers at the Lakemba mosque on the first night of Ramadan, March 22, 2023, in Sydney, Australia. #
Roni Bintang / Getty -
![Several pots of food being cooked at a festival]()
Read moreVendors prepare food at the Ramadan Nights food and cultural festival at Lakemba, in Sydney, Australia, on April 1, 2023. #
Roni Bintang / Getty -
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![A person kneels in prayer inside a mostly empty mosque.]()
Read moreA Muslim worshipper offers a prayer at Suleymaniye Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 5, 2023. #
Francisco Seco / AP -
![A man and a child sit together on the floor, studying the Quran.]()
Read moreA child opens the Quran during prayers at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, in Abu Dhabi, in the early hours of April 18, 2023. #
Karim Sahib / AFP / Getty -
![People sit at a very long table for an outside meal, among many ruined buildings.]()
Read moreLocals 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, Syria, on March 31, 2023. #
Aaref Watad / AFP / Getty -
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![A person ladles soup from a large pot into containers held out by many children.]()
Read morePalestinian Walid al-Hattab hands out soup from a large pot to impoverished youths to break their fast on the second day of Ramadan, in Gaza City, on March 24, 2023. #
Mohammed Abed / AFP / Getty -
![A large crowd gathers in a square outside a mosque.]()
Read moreIndian Muslims gather to have Iftar at the Historical Jama Masjid, in New Delhi, India, on April 3, 2023. #
Amarjeet Kumar Singh / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Illuminated signs featuring moons and stars and the message "Happy Ramadan" hang over a street.]()
Read moreLondon's famous Coventry Street is decorated with Ramadan ornaments, marking the start of the Muslim holy month, in the United Kingdom, on March 22, 2023. #
Rasid Necati Aslim / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![People gather outside an auditorium for a communal meal.]()
Read morePeople gather at the south steps of Royal Albert Hall during an "Open Iftar" event in London, England, on April 7, 2023. #
Rasid Necati Aslim / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![People look through a doorway at plates of sweet treats.]()
Read morePeople shop for treats during Ramadan, in Paris, France, on March 23, 2023. #
Ameer Alhalbi / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A crowd of women wait in Afghanistan.]()
Read moreWomen wait to collect free bags of flour at a government distribution point in Peshawar, Pakistan, on March 29, 2023, following an announcement by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that free flour would be provided to people in need during Ramadan. #
Abdul Majeed / AFP / Getty -
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![A large crowd gathers inside a shrine, illuminated by red light.]()
Read morePeople gather at Imam Ali Holy Shrine to mark the 1,362-year anniversary of the death of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Power), in Najaf, Iraq, on April 23, 2023. #
Karar Essa / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Three people visit a gravesite.]()
Read moreEarthquake survivors visit the graves of their loved ones and pray on Ramadan eve, in Kapicam Cemetery, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on March 22, 2023. #
Mehmet Kacmaz / Getty -
![A large crowd of worshippers kneels in rows inside a mosque.]()
Read moreMuslims perform night prayers at the Istiqlal mosque, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 26, 2023. #
Adek Berry / AFP / Getty -
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![A woman takes photos of her daughter next to a crescent-moon-shaped decoration in a market.]()
Read moreA Palestinian woman takes photos of her daughter next to a crescent-moon-shaped decoration in a market, in Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2023. #
Fatima Shbair / AP -
![Dozens of large tables are arranged for a communal meal inside a city-hall building.]()
Read moreMayor London Breed hosts the second annual City Hall Ramadan Iftar Celebration for the Muslim community, at San Francisco City Hall, in California, on March 31, 2023. #
Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![More than a dozen people reach to take food from a large plate.]()
Read morePeople gather for Iftar in a park in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 8, 2023. #
Ashraf Shazly / AFP / Getty -
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![A huge crowd of worshippers kneel in circular rows around the Kaaba.]()
Read moreMuslim worshippers pray around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on April 17, 2023. #
Abdel Ghani Bashir / AFP / Getty -
![People sit at a long makeshift table outside housing units.]()
Read morePeople sit at a long makeshift table before an Iftar, in Heideveld, on the Cape Flats, Cape Town, South Africa, April 15, 2023. #
Esa Alexander / Reuters -
![A person sits on the floor, studying the Quran.]()
Read moreA Muslim devotee reads the Quran as he offers Friday prayers at the Adams Masjid and Islamic Center Mosque on the second day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Nairobi, Kenya, on March 24, 2023. #
Simon Maina / AFP / Getty -
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![People shop in a busy market.]()
Read moreTurkish people shop at a market ahead of Eid Al-Fitr, in the Ulus district, in Ankara, Turkey, on April 17, 2023. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. #
Mustafa Ciftci / Anadolu Agency / Getty
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