In pictures: Muslims welcome holy month of Ramadan
Month of fasting began on the evening of May 5 for many Muslims, with others starting on May 6.
![Muslims in Indonesia perform tarawih prayers on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. [Anadolu Agency]](https://cdn-i.pr.trt.com.tr/trtworld/w664/h374/q70/0m_55042_20190505_2_36317282_44221152_1557134073050.jpg "Muslims in Indonesia perform tarawih prayers on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. [Anadolu Agency]")
Muslims in Indonesia perform tarawih prayers on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. [Anadolu Agency]
Hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world began fasting on Monday in observance of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with the rest set to follow on Tuesday.
For 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the next new moon, practising Muslims will abstain from eating, drinking and smoking during daylight hours.
In addition to its spiritual dimension, the month is also a time for families to come together by sharing meals after dusk and before dawn (or iftar and suhoor).
Our photo gallery below shows Muslims gearing up for the holy month:
A man peers through a pair of binoculars in order to spot the new moon. [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]
Muslims perform the first 'Tarawih' prayer on the beginning of the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan at the Cologne Central Mosque in Cologne, Germany [Mesut Zeyrek/Anadolu Agency]
A seller poses with a toy depicting Liverpool's Egyptian forward soccer player Mohamed Salah at a market before the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
Muslim women at the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque in Sarajevo wear traditional dresses to mark the start of Ramadan. [Elman Omiç/Anadolu Agency]
Yemenis carry food aid distributed by a charity ahead of Ramadan [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]
Muslims restore the Great Mosque of Djenne in central Mali using mud. Though an annual tradition, this year's occurred in the run up to Ramadan. [AFP]
Miners have their first Suhoor meal in Turkey's Black Sea province of Zonguldak [ Ferdi Akıllı/Anadolu Agency]
Iranians visit the shrine of the Shia Saint Imam Abdulazim in Shahr-e-Ray prior to the month of Ramadan, south of Tehran, Iran [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Children hold balloons to mark the beginning of the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina [Samir Yordamoviç/Anadolu Agency]
Muslims perform the first 'Tarawih' prayer at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque in Pristina, Kosovo [Erkin Keçi/Anadolu Agency]
A vendor weighs up dates in the Pakistani commercial hub of Karachi [Fareed Khan/AP Photo]
Students partake in the mid-day prayer during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Ar-Raudlatul Hasanah Islamic Boarding School in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia [Binsar Bakkara/AP Photo]
An Indian Muslim woman waits to cast her vote a polling booth in Uluberia, India, Monday, May 6, 2019. The latest round of voting in the Indian election coincides with the start of Ramadan. [Bikas Das/AP Photo]
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