In pictures: Ramadan begins amid coronavirus lockdown

Shuttered mosques, partial curbs, and bans on mass prayers across the world have overshadowed Islam's holiest month, which begins on Friday.

A boarding school student and an official wearing protective masks use a telescope and a monocular to view the moon on the roof of Al Musariin Mosque to mark the first day of Ramadan, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 23, 2020.
Reuters

A boarding school student and an official wearing protective masks use a telescope and a monocular to view the moon on the roof of Al Musariin Mosque to mark the first day of Ramadan, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 23, 2020.

Islam's holiest month begins on Friday, or Saturday in some countries, amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed and infected thousands and disrupted economic activities across the world.

Faithful Muslims fast during the day and then congregate for night prayers and share communal meals.

Ramadan lasts 29 or 30 days depending on the sightings of the crescent.

This year, fearing an explosion in virus cases, several Muslim countries have banned the annual exodus for Eid al Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, when millions travel to their hometowns and ancestral villages.

AFP

Government workers prepare food packets for people in need ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan during a government-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against coronavirus, in Srinagar, India-administered Kashmir, on April 21, 2020.

AFP

A shop owner is pictured behind piles of soap, after authorities eased lockdown restrictions ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, during the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis on April 23, 2020.

Reuters

A vendor offers a date to a customer to try, ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid spread of the coronavirus disease, in Karachi, Pakistan, April 22, 2020.

Reuters

A Bahraini man wears a protective face mask following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, as he shops at a produce market in Manama, Bahrain, April 23, 2020.

AA

Curfew was imposed in Istanbul to combat the spread of the coronavirus; markets and grocery stores will operate from 9 am to 2 pm on April 23-24 due to the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Istanbul, Turkey, April 23, 2020.

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Residents pray at the graves of their relatives at the Menteng Pulo Public Cemetery, in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 22, 2020. Although Jakarta has banned activities outside the home amid the coronavirus pandemic, many Muslims still visit graves ahead of Ramadan to pray for relatives who have died.

AA

Palestinians shop at a street market ahead of the Muslims' holy fasting month of Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic in Gaza City, Gaza on April 22, 2020.

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A committee member from the Sunni Endowment observes the new crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, using a telescope at Abu Hanifa Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq on April 22, 2020.

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Muslims go shopping at Tajrish Bazaar to prepare for the holy Islamic month of Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, Iran on April 23, 2020.

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