Ramadan: Muslims fast under coronavirus lockdowns

   Ramadan: Muslims fast under coronavirus lockdowns


A Muslim devotee attends a prayer on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown in Kathmandu

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.

The Kaaba in Mecca's Great Mosque stands largely empty
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.

An imam arrives to make the call to pray in New York
Image copyright AFP
Image caption Mecca's Grand Mosque would normally be full of worshippers during Ramadan, but now stands largely empty 
Customers wait to buy food in Lahore, Pakistan 
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption In New York, this imam made the afternoon call to prayer at an empty mosque
Image copyright AFP
Image caption In Pakistan, customers maintained social distancing while buying food to break their fast
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption A man breaks his fast outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, which is also closed as India remains under lockdown
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Muslims in Jerusalem prayed in an alley of the Old City on Friday
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption In Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - the government has banned travel during Ramadan
Image copyright AFP
Image caption Calm returned to Niger's capital Niamey after protests against the coronavirus restrictions, including the ban on collective prayers
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption A house is decorated with traditional Ramadan lanterns in the town of Toukh, in Egypt, where a night-time nationwide curfew is still in place 
 
 
 
 

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