Muslims around the World Observe the Fast of Ramadan
By: Newsroom Solutions, CNN Video
Updated: August 1, 2011
The Fast of Ramadan is under way this week for Muslims around the world.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and it is also believed to be when the Holy Koran was sent down from heaven.
Muslims fast the entire month during the daylight hours.
It is a time to concentrate on faith, worship and contemplation, and spend less time on the concerns of everyday life.
Devout Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, sex and smoking from dawn till dusk.
At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar and in the evening it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends.
The fast is then resumed the next morning.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and it is also believed to be when the Holy Koran was sent down from heaven.
Muslims fast the entire month during the daylight hours.
It is a time to concentrate on faith, worship and contemplation, and spend less time on the concerns of everyday life.
Devout Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, sex and smoking from dawn till dusk.
At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar and in the evening it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends.
The fast is then resumed the next morning.
