Muslims all over the world marks first day with fasting and prayers

zainab quadri

June 18, 2015 1:36 PM

Muslims around the world started fasting on Thursday, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Indonesian Muslim children carry torches to celebrate the start of Ramadan

Muslims around the world start Ramadan on Thursday, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart. However, this year religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and most other parts of the world announced based on their sightings of the moon that daily fasting would begin today, Thursday.

During Ramadan, observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for the entire month. A single sip of water or a puff of a cigarette is considered enough to invalidate the fast.

The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. Muslims often give to charities during the month, and mosques and aid organizations organize free meals for the public every night.

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