Skip to content

Ramadan: Muslims fast under coronavirus lockdowns

AFP A Muslim devotee attends a prayer on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown in KathmanduAFP
A Muslim devotee attends a prayer in Kathmandu amid a government-imposed lockdown across Nepal
BBC Presentational white space

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 dawn to dusk.

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.

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.

AFP The Kaaba in Mecca's Great Mosque stands largely emptyAFP
Mecca's Grand Mosque would normally be full of worshippers during Ramadan, but now stands largely empty
Reuters An imam arrives to make the call to pray in New YorkReuters
In New York, this imam made the afternoon call to prayer at an empty mosque
AFP Customers wait to buy food in Lahore, PakistanAFP
In Pakistan, customers maintained social distancing while buying food to break their fast
Reuters A man breaks his fast outside the empty Jama Masjid in DelhiReuters
A man breaks his fast outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, which is also closed as India remains under lockdown
Reuters A Muslim woman wearing a face mask and rubber gloves praysReuters
Muslims in Jerusalem prayed in an alley of the Old City on Friday
Reuters An imam in Indonesia broadcasts a recitation of the KoranReuters
In Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - the government has banned travel during Ramadan
AFP Street vendors sell food in Niger's capital NiameyAFP
Calm returned to Niger's capital Niamey after protests against the coronavirus restrictions, including the ban on collective prayers
Reuters Women look from the windows of their house in the town of Toukh, EgyptReuters
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

All images subject to copyright.