Observing RAMADAN - (2011 - part 1)

2. Ramadan began Monday august 1st, marking the start of the holy month for Muslims, who are expected to fast and practice abstinence from dawn until sunset. The month of fasting was officially announced in Muslim countries to begin on Monday worldwide. Ramadan is held yearly during the ninth months of the Islamic calendar after the sighting of the new moon, which occurred on Saturday evening, and lasts for 29 to 30 days until the next new moon appears. Muslims around the globe have begun their holiest month of the year by giving up food, drink, smoking and other physical needs from dawn till dusk each day. In many communities, large dinner gatherings are held each evening to break the fast. The month also marks a time for Muslims to reexamine their lives through the prism of Islamic teachings. All Muslims across the world are expected to participate, with the exception of the elderly, sick and pregnant. As one of the five pillars of Islam, Muslims are expected to refrain from food and drink and abstain from smoking and sex each day during the celebration from dawn to dusk. The breaking of the fast, or iftaar, begins at dusk by eating dates.  Some Muslims have slightly different variations and have broader definitions of practices during Ramadan. The month-long fasting marks the anniversary of the Quran being revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. Ramadan commences annually with a celebration called Eid al-Fitr, comprised of feasting and prayer. Clic -->

3. Yusuf Ahmad / Reuters - A worker checks printing paper for the Koran near the Sunan Ampel mosque in Surabaya, Indonesia East Java province, on July 27.

4. Darawish Sufi dance group performs a traditional dance to celebrate the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan during the Ajyalouna Festival in Beirut July 30, 2011. Source: REUTERS

5. A traditional group performs with a camel and horses to celebrate the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan during the Ajyalouna Festival in Beirut July 30, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

6. A Palestinian woman walks under decorations ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jerusalem's Old City July 30, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

7. An officer of Malaysia's Islamic authority uses a telescope to perform "rukyah", the sighting of the new moon of Ramadan, in Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur July 31, 2011. Muslims scan the sky at dusk in the beginning of the lunar calendar's ninth month in search of the new moon to proclaim the start of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, during which observant believers fast from dawn to dusk. Muslims in Malaysia begin the Ramadan fasting month on Monday. - Source: REUTERS

8. A man hangs decorations outside his home in Jerusalem's Old City on July 31. (Ammar Awad/Reuters )

9. Children play around a large lamp built for Ramadan in Gaza City. The deeply spiritual month for Muslims is traditionally symbolized by lamps that are hung in houses and carried by children. Every year in the Gaza Strip, residents try to build what they claim is the largest Ramadan lamp in the world. There's no proof to their claims, but it provides entertainment for the territory's impoverished residents. (Hatem Moussa/Associated Press)

10. A man makes sweets in a shop in Kabul, Afghanistan on the eve of the start of Ramadan. Throughout the month devout Muslims must abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until sunset when they break the fast with the Iftar meal. The fast is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the annual pilgrimage to Mecca which able Muslims should do once in a lifetime. (Shah MaraiI/AFP/Getty Images)

11. A vendor displays religious books on the eve of Ramadan in the West Bank town of Jenin. (Mohammed Ballas/Associated Press

12. Bahrainis search the evening sky over the Persian Gulf from the western village of Karzakan for the sliver of a new moon that indicates the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. In Bahrain, Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and charitable giving, begins Monday. (Hasan Jamali/Associated Press)

13. Indonesian Muslims perform Tarawih, an evening prayer marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. (Dita Alangkara/Associated Press

14. Whirling dervishes perform at the Galata Whirling Dervish Hall, founded in 1491 by the Ottomans, in Istanbul, Turkey, on the second day off Ramadan. The Sufi whirling performance of the Mevlevi order is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sama. The order was founded by the Persian-Turkish poet Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi during the 13th century. Rumi advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love for all regardless their faiths. (Associated Press)

15. A Palestinian boy plays with fireworks to celebrate the beginning of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in the town of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on July 31. (Said Kharib/AFP/Getty Images)

16. A woman points skyward as she and her sons look for the crescent moon in Amman, Jordan July 31. Religious authorities in most of the Middle East declared that Monday will be the start of the holy month of Ramadan, a period devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and spiritual introspection. (Mohammad Hannon/Associated Press)

17. Children play next to a man praying before mass prayer session "Tarawih", which marks the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta July 31. (Supri/Reuters )

18. Muslim woman attend mass prayer session "Tarawih", which marks the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Al Markaz Al Islami mosque in Makassar, South Sulawesi July 31. (Ahmad Yusuf/Reuters)

19. A man distributes bread among poor women so they can break their fast at sunset on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

20. A Palestinian vendor hangs decorations for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan at a market in Jerusalem's Old City July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. The Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, is seen in the back. Source: REUTERS

21. A man sells pickles ahead during a preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at the downtown market area in Amman July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar - Source: REUTERS

22. A Palestinian woman stands under decorations for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

23. Tourists stand under decorations for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan at a market in Jerusalem's Old City July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

24. A vendor arranges limes on display as Jordanians shop in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at the downtown market area in Amman July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

25. Jordanians shop in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at the downtown market area in Amman July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

26. Jordanians shop in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the downtown market area in Amman July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

27. Jordanians shop in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at the downtown market area in Amman July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

28. Jordanians shop in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the downtown market area in Amman July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

29. Muslim women attend mass prayer session "Tarawih", which marks the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Al Akbar mosque in Surabaya, East Java July 31, 2011. Source: REUTERS

30. Muslims attend mass prayer session "Tarawih", which marks the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta, July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

31. Muslim women attend a mass prayer session "Tarawih", which marks the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

32. A Koran is seen next to Egyptian men as they rest at a mosque in Cairo July 31, 2011. Millions of Muslims worldwide will celebrate the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on Monday, August 1. Ramadan is where Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

33. Women shop at a supermarket in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen July 31, 2011. Source: REUTERS

34. A man walks past a sign with the words "He will not leave" scrawled below a picture of president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen July 31, 2011. Source: REUTERS

35. Hajj Abdullah, a Yemeni man in his eighties, eats "maloujeh" bread as shop vendors prepare for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen July 31, 2011. Source: REUTERS

36. A woman walks past a shop selling spices and vegetables in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen July 31, 2011. Source: REUTERS

37. Palestinians shop at a market in Gaza City ahead of the holy month of Ramadan July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

38. A Palestinian vendor arranges a display of traditional lanterns for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan at a market in Gaza City July 31, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. - Source: REUTERS

39. A whirling dervish performs before Iftar, the evening meal for breaking fast during Ramadan, on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Istanbul August 1. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

40. Students pray during the first day of the holy month of Ramadan at the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo, Indonesia's Central Java province, August 1. (Beawiharta/Reuters

41. The sun sets behind Al-hussein Mosque on the first day of Ramadan in Amman, Jordan Aug. 1. Religious authorities in most of the Middle East declared Monday the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a period devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and spiritual introspection. (Nader Daoud/Associated Press

42. Internally displaced Somali women wait for food supplies at the Badbado refugee camp in the south of capital Mogadishu August 1. Somalia's famine refugees, weakened by months of drought, on Monday began the Ramadan fast amid tents and shacks of the world's largest refugee camp. (Omar Faruk/Reuters)

43. A boy takes part in a prayer at Strasbourg's new Grand Mosque August 1. The mosque, which opened on Monday, held its first prayers to mark the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (Vincent Kessler/Reuters)

44. A man tries a cap he bought to offer prayers during the Muslim's holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi, Pakistan August 1. (Shakil Adil/Associated Press)

45. The Quran, Islam's holy book, is reflected in the reading glasses of a Muslim man as he reads in a mosque after noon prayer on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Amman, Jordan, Monday Aug. 1, 2011. Religious authorities in most of the Middle East declared Monday the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a period devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and spiritual introspection. \ (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

46. A woman enters a mosque to pray during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 1, 2011. (Aaron Favila/Associated Press)

47. Palestinian boys play with fireworks during Ramadan in Gaza City on August 1. (Hatem Moussa/Associated Press)

48. A vendor, selling corn, waits for customers after Iftar, or the breaking of the fast meal in Beylikduzu, a district of Istanbul August 1. (Osman Orsal/Reuters

49. A man enters a mosque for evening prayers on the first day of Ramadan in Moscow August 1. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)

50. Afghan children holding empty utensils wait for food to be distributed on the first day of holy month of Ramadan outside a mosque in a poor neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan August 1. (Dar Yasin/Associated Press)