Ramadan and how it's observed around the world

Muslims around the world are marking Ramadan — a month of fasting during which observers abstain from food, drink and other pleasures from sunrise to sunset.

Here's a look at this holy time, which is marked by special prayers, blessings and fasting.  

Ahead of Ramadan, people shop for decorations in Amman, Jordan, on March 30.

(Muath Freij/Reuters)

A woman browses for a traditional Ramadan lantern, called a fanous, at a stall in Cairo on March 31.

(Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Officers with Malaysia's Islamic authority use a theodolite to perform rukyah, the sighting of the new moon that signals the start of the holy month of Ramadan, in Kuala Lumpur on April 1.

(Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters)

Worshippers perform night prayers, or tarawih, during the eve of the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month in Turkey, at Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, on April 1.

(Emrah Gurel/The Associated Press)

A man waits for afternoon prayers to start on April 1 outside the Al Masjid Al Jamia mosque in Vancouver.

(Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

Members of the Iqaluit Masjid gather for afternoon prayers on April 1, marking the first time in a year they've come together after public health restrictions meant they couldn't gather.

(Dustin Patar/The Canadian Press)

Women perform a mass prayer of tarawih in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 2.

(Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters)

A girl sits on a stack of praying rugs as women pray at the Great Mosque of Istiqlal in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 2.

(Willy Kurniawan/Reuters)

A man reads verses from the Qur'an inside the shrine of Sufi sheik Abdul Qadir Jeelani on the first day of Ramadan in Srinagar, India-controlled Kashmir, on April 3.

(Mukhtar Khan/The Associated Press)

People take part in a prayer at a mosque during the first day of Ramadan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 3.

(Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

Muslims break their fast by eating the iftar meal on the second day of Ramadan at the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) in the old quarters of Delhi, India, on April 4.

(Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A family gathers by a lookout, with a view of Jerusalem's Old City, as they eat their iftar meal on April 5.

(Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters)

People pray during Ramadan at Al-Sahlah Mosque in Kufa, near the city of Najaf, Iraq, on April 5.

(Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)

Muslims perform ablution before offering prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan at the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India. 

(Altaf Qadri/The Associated Press)