'Calmer and nicer': Muslims describe first few hours of Ramadan fast

Holy month habits differ from person-to-person and place-to-place, depending on spirituality and circumstance

Decorative lights at the beginning of Ramadan at sunset on Wednesday, outside Jerusalem's Old City. AP

While on a normal day, Kulthoum Samir regularly skips breakfast, on the first day of Ramadan she is craving it.

"I normally don't drink much water during the day but today my throat is so dry. I just want to eat because I can't," the 34 year-old civil engineer tells The National.

"It's mostly psychological," she says about the difficulty of adjusting to the first day of the month-long Ramadan fast, when Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk.

On the other hand, 26-year-old humanitarian worker Alia Zaki says she is feeling "calmer and nicer", despite the changes to her morning routine.

"When I usually wake up, I have a warm cup of water and lemon. That's now gone. Then I go to the office and drink coffee. Gone," she said from Jerusalem.

"My trick for overcoming the first few days of caffeine withdrawal is to take a mild painkiller just before the fast begins at dawn," she says, laughing.

In Bahrain, the atmosphere was "spiritual" on the eve of the first day of Ramadan, a public relations executive who asked not be named told The National.

People receive free sweet drinks for iftar in Peshawar, Pakistan. EPA

Muslim worshipers perform taraweeh prayers for Ramadan at Al Basha Mosque in Mosul, Iraq. Reuters

Policeman Ahmed fires a traditional Ramadan cannon to announce iftar in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

A girl at Quran recitation classes during Ramadan in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir. AP

Confectioners prepare traditional sweets for Ramadan in the Sadria district of central Baghdad. AFP

Muslim students offer prayers during Ramadan at an Islamic boarding school in Medan, Indonesia. AFP

A Muslim woman views Canary Wharf in the City of London during an Iftar event at 22 Bishopsgate. EPA

Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Crown Prince Moulay launch the nationwide Ramadan 1444 operation in the city of Sale, north of the capital Rabat, to assist five million disadvantaged Moroccans in Ramadan. AFP

Volunteers prepare Ramadan pre-dawn suhoor meals for distribution in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Saturday. AFP

Afghanistan and Pakistan’s T20 teams pray together on the second day of Ramadan before play at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Worshippers attend prayers on the first Friday of the holy month at the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara, Turkey. AFP

An iftar cannon is fired at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on the first Friday of Ramadan. Victor Besa / The National

Muslims after Friday prayers at the Ali Jim'ale Mosque in Mogadishu, Somalia. Reuters

Men pray at the Grand Mosque, Khartoum. AP

Prayers at the main mosque during Ramadan in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. EPA

Worshippers after prayers on first day of Ramadan at the Kowloon Mosque in Hong Kong. AP

Visitors buy cotton candy at an entertainment area in Tripoli. AFP

Muslims break their fast in a street in Abidjan in Ivory Coast. EPA

Palestinians celebrate the lighting of Ramadan lanterns in Jerusalem's Old City. EPA

A street lit up for Ramadan in the West End of London. EPA

Ukrainian Muslims break their fast at the Ar-Rahma Mosque in Kyiv. EPA

Muslims gather for free Iftar meals at Sheikh Abdul Qader Gilani mosque in Baghdad. AP

Muslims gather before the Kaaba in Makkah as they perform the maghrib prayer to mark the end of the first day of fasting at the Grand Mosque. AFP

Muslims seated for iftar in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA

A volunteer prepares iftar food at the Data Darbar shrine in Lahore, Pakistan. AFP

A Palestinian woman reads the Quran during the first day of Ramadan, at Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Reuters

People look through binoculars and a telescope to view the crescent moon marking the start of Ramadan, in Najaf, Iraq. Reuters

Prayers at Al Bidya Mosque in Fujairah, the oldest mosque in the UAE, a day before Ramadan. Leslie Pableo for The National

Women pray during the first evening of Ramadan at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo, Indonesia. Reuters

Members of the Muslim Scout Association play drums during events to mark the beginning of the holy fasting month, in Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters

Worshippers perform taraweeh evening prayers at Al Azhar Mosque, in Cairo. Reuters

A tent mosque set up after February's powerful earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. EPA

A man sits inside a mosque on the first day of Ramadan, in Marikina, the Philippines. AP

The first morning prayers of Ramadan at Al Farooq Omar bin Al Khattab Mosque in Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National

A Palestinian man sells traditional Ramadan lanterns, called fanous, in Gaza City. EPA

A woman shops for Ramadan decorations, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reuters

Abu Dhabi's Bani Hashim Mosque, on the first morning of Ramadan. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

"I'm actually really looking forward to Ramadan this month. The weather is better, the working hours are short. It's an exciting Ramadan," she says, adding that the only real bother for her is not having her first cup of coffee in the morning.

"But other than that, I don't feel it affecting me psychologically. It's an important month for cleansing and being spiritual."

In north-western Syria, the situation is far worse.

Having already suffered from a dire economic situation after 12 years of civil war and the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that left 52,000 people dead in Turkey and Syria last month, trying to find food for the day is a part of life.

"Apart from the humanitarian assistance that some people receive, resources are scarce. The weather is also difficult. It's raining and cold," Abdel Mueen, 55, told The National.

"I remember back when during the good days, we used to feast on lamb and chicken. Today, buying a kilo of onions requires its own budget. Everything else has also gotten more expensive.

"People from more than one family today come together to buy one chicken among them in celebration of the first day of Ramadan.

"God help us. We say Ramadan Kareem to all anyway."