AP PHOTOS: Ramadan demonstrates Muslim courage and faith
AP PHOTOS: Ramadan demonstrates Muslim courage and faith
A Palestinian man, right, reads verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, on one of the last days of the month of Ramadan, at Al Khaldi mosque in Gaza City, Saturday, May 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
A worshipper prays upon arrival before he and and others gather to perform an Eid al-Fitr prayer at the Masjidullah Mosque in Philadelphia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Syrian refugee Ayesha al-Abed, 21, right, prepares food as her Husband Raed Mattar, 24, left, plays with their daughter Rayan, 18 months old, before they break their fast on the first day of fasting month of Ramadan, at an informal refugee camp, in the town of Bhannine in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Palestinian women wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, to attend the first Friday prayers in al-Aqsa mosque, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Friday, April 16, 2021. A limited number of Palestinian residents who carry both a travel permit and a vaccination document, are allowed to cross into Israel to attend the prayers at al-Aqsa mosque, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
A woman brings food for security forces to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, at the site of a passenger train that derailed injuring about 100 people, near Banha, Qalyubia province, Egypt, Sunday, April 18, 2021. At least eight train wagons ran off the railway, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement. (AP Photo/Fadel Dawood)
A man takes a nap while waiting for the time to break his fast at the Kubah Mas mosque in Depok, Indonesia, Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A Somali queues to receive food to break her dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at a camp for the internally-displaced in the Darusalam neighborhood of the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Fishermen break their fast during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, on a boat in a dockyard, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Kashmiri Muslims wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus pray inside the shrine of Sufi saint Shiekh Abdul Qadir Jeelani during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Ndeye Yacine Dieng breaks the fast with her family during the holy month of Ramadan at her home in Bargny, Senegal some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A man swings fireworks during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, on the beach of Gaza City, Monday, April 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Bosnian coal miners break fast in the underground at a mine in Zenica, Bosnia, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Inside mine shafts, one can’t see sunset, but miners consult their watches and smartphones for the right time to sit down, unwrap their food and break their daily fast together. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)
Muslims men leave after Friday prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a Grand mosque in N’Djamena, Chad, Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A Muslim bride prays while she attend last Friday prayer during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the historical Badshahi mosque, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Muslim gather during Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on a street in in Bekasi , West Java, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Muslims walk through a disinfection chamber installed to curb the spread of coronavirus outbreak as they enter Al Mashun Great Mosque compound to attend an Eid al-Fitr prayer in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
Muslim girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
A girl is tossed into the air as people gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City ofJerusalem, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A man distributes food to Muslims who arrive to break their day-long fast during Ramadan at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan is a period of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. (AP Photo /Mahesh Kumar A.)
Jewish men walk past Palestinian men stringing colored lights across a main walkway on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, April 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Saudi man arranges his son’s traditional “Ghutra”, or head cover, after performing Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslim worshippers are sprayed with cool water during Friday prayers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Muslims take part in Eid al Fitr prayers at the Kul Sharif Mosque in Kazan, Russia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Muslims pray during the first dawn prayers of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they keep social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
A worker prepares traditional Turkish sweets in a restaurant, in Istanbul, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. As Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan Tuesday, in mostly-Muslim Turkey, the month of fasting kicked off with some restrictions amid record levels of COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A Palestinian man, right, reads verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, on one of the last days of the month of Ramadan, at Al Khaldi mosque in Gaza City, Saturday, May 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
A worshipper prays upon arrival before he and and others gather to perform an Eid al-Fitr prayer at the Masjidullah Mosque in Philadelphia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Syrian refugee Ayesha al-Abed, 21, right, prepares food as her Husband Raed Mattar, 24, left, plays with their daughter Rayan, 18 months old, before they break their fast on the first day of fasting month of Ramadan, at an informal refugee camp, in the town of Bhannine in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Syrian refugee Ayesha al-Abed, 21, right, prepares food as her Husband Raed Mattar, 24, left, plays with their daughter Rayan, 18 months old, before they break their fast on the first day of fasting month of Ramadan, at an informal refugee camp, in the town of Bhannine in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Palestinian women wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, to attend the first Friday prayers in al-Aqsa mosque, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Friday, April 16, 2021. A limited number of Palestinian residents who carry both a travel permit and a vaccination document, are allowed to cross into Israel to attend the prayers at al-Aqsa mosque, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Palestinian women wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, to attend the first Friday prayers in al-Aqsa mosque, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Friday, April 16, 2021. A limited number of Palestinian residents who carry both a travel permit and a vaccination document, are allowed to cross into Israel to attend the prayers at al-Aqsa mosque, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
A woman brings food for security forces to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, at the site of a passenger train that derailed injuring about 100 people, near Banha, Qalyubia province, Egypt, Sunday, April 18, 2021. At least eight train wagons ran off the railway, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement. (AP Photo/Fadel Dawood)
A woman brings food for security forces to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, at the site of a passenger train that derailed injuring about 100 people, near Banha, Qalyubia province, Egypt, Sunday, April 18, 2021. At least eight train wagons ran off the railway, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement. (AP Photo/Fadel Dawood)
A man takes a nap while waiting for the time to break his fast at the Kubah Mas mosque in Depok, Indonesia, Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A Somali queues to receive food to break her dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at a camp for the internally-displaced in the Darusalam neighborhood of the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A Somali queues to receive food to break her dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at a camp for the internally-displaced in the Darusalam neighborhood of the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Fishermen break their fast during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, on a boat in a dockyard, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Kashmiri Muslims wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus pray inside the shrine of Sufi saint Shiekh Abdul Qadir Jeelani during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Kashmiri Muslims wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus pray inside the shrine of Sufi saint Shiekh Abdul Qadir Jeelani during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Ndeye Yacine Dieng breaks the fast with her family during the holy month of Ramadan at her home in Bargny, Senegal some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Ndeye Yacine Dieng breaks the fast with her family during the holy month of Ramadan at her home in Bargny, Senegal some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A man swings fireworks during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, on the beach of Gaza City, Monday, April 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Bosnian coal miners break fast in the underground at a mine in Zenica, Bosnia, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Inside mine shafts, one can’t see sunset, but miners consult their watches and smartphones for the right time to sit down, unwrap their food and break their daily fast together. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)
Bosnian coal miners break fast in the underground at a mine in Zenica, Bosnia, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Inside mine shafts, one can’t see sunset, but miners consult their watches and smartphones for the right time to sit down, unwrap their food and break their daily fast together. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)
Muslims men leave after Friday prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a Grand mosque in N’Djamena, Chad, Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A Muslim bride prays while she attend last Friday prayer during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the historical Badshahi mosque, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Muslim gather during Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on a street in in Bekasi , West Java, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Muslims walk through a disinfection chamber installed to curb the spread of coronavirus outbreak as they enter Al Mashun Great Mosque compound to attend an Eid al-Fitr prayer in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
Muslims walk through a disinfection chamber installed to curb the spread of coronavirus outbreak as they enter Al Mashun Great Mosque compound to attend an Eid al-Fitr prayer in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
Muslim girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Muslim girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
A girl is tossed into the air as people gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City ofJerusalem, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A girl is tossed into the air as people gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City ofJerusalem, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A man distributes food to Muslims who arrive to break their day-long fast during Ramadan at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan is a period of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. (AP Photo /Mahesh Kumar A.)
A man distributes food to Muslims who arrive to break their day-long fast during Ramadan at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan is a period of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. (AP Photo /Mahesh Kumar A.)
Jewish men walk past Palestinian men stringing colored lights across a main walkway on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, April 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Jewish men walk past Palestinian men stringing colored lights across a main walkway on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, April 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Saudi man arranges his son’s traditional “Ghutra”, or head cover, after performing Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
A Saudi man arranges his son’s traditional “Ghutra”, or head cover, after performing Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslim worshippers are sprayed with cool water during Friday prayers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Muslim worshippers are sprayed with cool water during Friday prayers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Muslims take part in Eid al Fitr prayers at the Kul Sharif Mosque in Kazan, Russia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Muslims pray during the first dawn prayers of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they keep social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslims pray during the first dawn prayers of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they keep social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
A worker prepares traditional Turkish sweets in a restaurant, in Istanbul, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. As Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan Tuesday, in mostly-Muslim Turkey, the month of fasting kicked off with some restrictions amid record levels of COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A worker prepares traditional Turkish sweets in a restaurant, in Istanbul, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. As Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan Tuesday, in mostly-Muslim Turkey, the month of fasting kicked off with some restrictions amid record levels of COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The world spun madly on as followers of its second-largest religion practiced the traditions of Islam’s holiest month, at times under circumstances that demanded as much courage as faith.
Ramadan is a period of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. But between April 12-13, when this year’s observance started, and the month’s end Thursday with the Eid al-Fitr holiday, Muslims in many parts of the world carried out the comforting rituals while confronting tragedies and tremendous upheaval.
In mostly-Muslim Turkey, the month of fasting kicked off amid record levels of COVID-19 infections and the country’s strictest lockdown of the pandemic. The restrictions prohibited residents from leaving their homes except to shop for groceries or to meet other essential needs, and are in place until after the three-day Eid holiday, normally a time for family reunions.
The coronavirus pandemic shaped Ramadan in other ways for a second year in a row. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, worshippers wearing masks joined communal prayers in the streets of Jakarta and passed through disinfection chambers before entering the Al Mashun Great Mosque compound in North Sumatra on Thursday.
For members of India’s Muslim minority, the holy month coincided with the country’s uncontrolled and lethal COVID-19 outbreak. Muslim cemeteries started running out of space and people to dig graves within days of Ramadan’s start, while families that had looked forward to celebrating together buried loved ones instead.
Grief also gripped the Gaza Strip, where Israeli airstrikes emptied streets that Palestinians ordinarily throng ahead of Eid al-Fitr to shop for new clothes and treats. Instead, Hamas urged the faithful to mark communal Eid prayers inside their homes or at the nearest mosques instead of out in the open.
Throughout it all, many Muslims held fast to tradition, praying and breaking their daily fasts wherever they found themselves.
For a group of security forces in Egypt, that meant the site of passenger train derailment that killed at least 11 people and injured about 100 more. For a young Syrian couple and their 18-month-old daughter, it was an informal refugee camp in Lebanon. Coal miners in Bosnia broke their fasts by helmet-light, relying on watches and smartphones to know when it was sunset and they could sit down to eat together.