Muslims around the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan which runs this year from Aug. 1 to Aug. 30. During Ramadan, observant Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn to dusk. (33 images)
Follow @sacbee_theframe
An Indian Muslim prays after breaking the Ramadan fast at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. Muslims around the world are marking the holy fasting month of Ramadan, where the devout fast from dawn until dusk. AP / Kevin Frayer
A Kashmiri Muslim woman cries as she prays at the shrine of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani commonly known as Dastageer Sahib in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Kashmiri Muslim woman cries as she prays at a shrine of a Sufi saint in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Kashmiri Muslim woman cries as she prays at Shah-e Hamdan mosque in Srinagar, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Kashmiri Muslim women pray inside the Jamia Mosque in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian Muslims pray at the Ferozshah Kotla mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan in New Delhi, India, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. AP / Gurinder Osan
A Nepalese Muslim prays on the second day of the holy fasting month Ramadan at a mosque in Katmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011. Muslims are a minority in this predominantly Hindu nation. Official data indicates only 4.3 percent of the country's 27 million people are Muslim. AP / Niranjan Shrestha
Kashmiri girls read their holy books as they walk towards the local madrasa, or Muslim religious school, during the holy month of Ramadan in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. AP / Mukhtar Khan
A Kashmiri Muslim boat man prays on his boat after breaking his fast during the holy month of Ramadan, in Srinagar, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Mukhtar Khan
A young impoverished Indian youth waits for charitable food handouts before breaking the Ramadan fast at a restaurant near the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. AP / Kevin Frayer
An Indonesian Muslim man reads the Quran during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 1, 2011. AP / Tatan Syuflana
Indonesian Muslim men pray during Friday prayers in the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. AP / Achmad Ibrahim
Indonesian Muslims perform Tarawih, an evening prayer marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, July 31, 2011. AP / Dita Alangkara
An Indonesian Muslim woman's face is reflected in a mirrored stone wall, left, as she recites the Quran during Friday prayers in the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. AP / Achmad Ibrahim
Workers make toffee-like traditional sweet cake called "dodol," one of special Ramadan delicacies, at a home factory in Serpong on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011. AP / Tatan Syuflana
Students attend an afternoon prayer at an Islamic boarding school in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Binsar Bakkara
Muslim men wait for the time to break their fast at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Heri Juanda
A Pakistani Muslim eats to break his fast next to graffiti reading "here I am to follow you O prophet Muhammed" on the first day of holy fasting month of Ramadan, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. AP / Anjum Naveed
A Pakistani family waits to break their fast in the compound of Pakistan's Mughal era Shahi Mosque during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 in Lahore,. Pakistan. AP / K.M.Chaudary
An Afghan refugee boy, prays in a Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011. AP / Muhammed Muheisen
A man carries noodles after they dried at a local factory in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug 9, 2011. Many Pakistani people buy noodles for an early morning meal before fasting during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. AP / K.M.Chaudary
Two boys run at the high end fashion section at a shopping mall during the first day of the month of Ramadan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday Aug. 1, 2011. AP / Kamran Jebreili
Iranian worshippers perform their Friday prayer, at Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011, during the Muslims' holy fasting month of Ramadan, a period devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and spiritual introspection. AP / Vahid Salemi
A Palestinian man rests as another reads the Quran, Islam's holy book, in the Al-Furqan mosque in Gaza City, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011. AP / Hatem Moussa
Palestinian women wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint on their way to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. AP / Bernat Armangue
Two Palestinian gilrs sit in the door of their family's home in the Jabaliya Refugee Campreading the Holy Koran while waiting to break their fast during the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan. ZUMAdaily.com / Ali Ali
Late afternoon light illuminates Palestinian boys reciting passages from the holy Quran inside a mosque before they break the Ramadan fast Sunday. ZUMAdaily.com / Lu Yingxu
Lebanese Mohammed Fanas, a dawn awakener, holds a lantern and beats on a drum to awaken Muslims for the meal before sunrise in the old souk of the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Monday, Aug. 1, 2011. AP / Mohammed Zaatari
Muslims offer Friday prayers at Mohammed Al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. Muslims throughout the world are marking the holy month of Ramadan, where observants fast from dawn till dusk. AP / Bilal Hussein
A youth reads the Quran in a mosque after noon prayers during the holy month of Ramadan in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011. AP / Mohammad Hannon
Jordanians and Syrians conduct Taraweeh, the nightly Ramadan prayers, in front of the Syrian Embassy to show solidarity with Syrian protestors against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, in Amman. ZUMAdaily.com / Mohammad Abu Ghosh
Libyan children study Quran inside the mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. AP / Sergey Ponomarev
An Afghan roadside fruit vendor prays after breaking his fast during the holy month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. AP / Dar Yasin
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.