Muslims gearing up for holy month of Ramadan

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Millions of Muslims are gearing up for the holy month of Ramadan, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset.

Here’s how pilgrims around the world mark this time, including special prayers, blessings and fasting.

For the first time, Piccadilly Circus in London is illuminated with special lights on the night of Ramadan.

A string of light installations in the shape of a star and a crescent moon

(Anna Gordon/Reuters)

People put torches with the word “God” written on them to celebrate the fasting month, in Sleman, Indonesia, Sunday.

Light a torch at night that represents the words of Allah to welcome the holy month of Ramadan.

(Devi Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)

A shopkeeper waits for customers at a stall inside a mall decorated with festive lights in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday.

A shopkeeper in the cafe looks through strings of lights in green, yellow and purple before Ramadan.

(Willy Kurniawan/Reuters)

Do rukyah

An official with the Islamic Authority of Malaysia stands with the theodolite, which is used to do so rukyahthe sighting of the moon to mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Wednesday.

Officials use a theodolite to perform rukyah, which is the sighting of the new moon that marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

(Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters)

A woman examines a telescope before looking for the moon, near the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Aqsa mosque compound, in Jerusalem’s old city, on Tuesday.

A woman looks into a telescope to check the head of the moon at the beginning of Ramadan.

(Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)

Traditional lanterns, food

Before Ramadan, people buy traditional lanterns called a fanous in a market shop in central Cairo’s Sayyida Zainab district on March 12.

People browse the market stalls selling lanterns and traditional food before Ramadan.

(Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)

Children celebrate with traditional songs and lanterns in the Zeitun district of Gaza City on March 18.

A girl holds a small traditional lantern with her left hand, with a boy watching in the background standing against a wall

(Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)

Volunteers donate at the Muslim Welfare Canada food bank in Scarborough, Ont., on Wednesday. Food bank donations, as well as usage, increase during Ramadan, according to director Shahid Khan.

People stock shelves at a food bank for Muslim clients in Scarborough, Ont.

(Evan Mitsui/CBC)

People buy food at a wholesale market in Mosul, Iraq, on Wednesday.

People shop at a wholesale market with lots of nuts, chips and food on display at stalls.

(Khalid Al-Mousily/Reuters)

A vendor at the Kawran Bazar fish market waits for customers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday.

A seller in the fish market with whole fish arranged in a large round bowl

(Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

A special prayer

Pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque on Tuesday in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest shrine.

Pilgrims dressed in white pray at a mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

(Abdel Ghani Bashir/AFP/Getty Images)

The pilgrims performed the so-called Magrib prayer tarawihmarks the beginning of the month of fasting, at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Muslim women pack the mosque for the evening prayer called 'tarawih' which marks the first night of the holy month of Ramadan.

(Achmad Ibrahim/The Associated Press)

​Muslims attend evening prayers outside the Lakemba Mosque in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.

Pilgrims pray in the mosque

(Jaimi Joy/Reuters)

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