Ramadan 2020: The holy month begins around the Middle East - in pictures

Muslims around the region face a unique Ramadan with mosques closed and gatherings limited

Worshippers perform taraweeh prayer in front of the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque on the first day of Ramadan in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. While the general public are not allowed to enter because of the coronavirus pandemic, imams at Islam’s holiest site still lead the daily prayers with staff and workers. AFP

Saudi policemen stand guard next to the Kaaba in Makkah's Grand Mosque on the first day of Ramadan. AFP

Muslims offer Taraweeh evening prayers on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in Kandahar city. AFP

Muslims offer special taraveeh prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, in Herat, Afghanistan. EPA

Sudanese men break their fast in a street in the capital Khartoum during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid a curfew due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. AFP

A peddlar sells bread and pastries from a cart in the rain in a square in Syria's northwestern city of Idlib on the first day of Ramadan. AFP

A Lebanese drummer (Musaharati) wears a protective mask and carries a small drum as he makes his rounds waking Muslims for Suhor, the meal taken during Ramadan before sunrise prayers, amid the coronavirus lockdown in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 April 2020. EPA

A Lebanese supporter of the Jemaah Islamiyah wears a medical mask, drives his ATV to celebrate in the first day of Ramadan in Beirut, Lebanon, 24 April 2020. EPA

Palestinian Walid al-Hattab prepares soup for the poor during the first day of Ramadan in Gaza City on April 24, 2020. AFP

A Palestinian family perform the tarawih special prayer during the first day of Ramadan in their home in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on April 24, 2020. AFP

A Palestinian preacher speaks before a camera while recording a sermon and broadcasting the audio onto loudspeakers inside an empty mosque in the village of Salem east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on the first day of Ramadan on April 24, 2020. AFP

A Palestinian worker prepares a lantern on the first day of Ramadan, in the west bank city of Nablus, 24 April 2020. EPA

A Yemeni collects the copies of the Koran on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in Sana'a, Yemen, 24 April 2020. EPA

An Iranian woman prays outside of the Saleh Shrine on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran, Iran, 24 April 2020. EPA

A car travels in front of closed shops, and light decorations during the first night of Ramadan, in the Cairo suburb of Maadi, Egypt, April 24, 2020. Reuters

Tunisians buy cheese on the first day of Ramadan at a market in Tunis, Tunisia, 24 April 2020. EPA

A Tunisian woman sells dates on the first day of Ramadan at a market in Tunis, Tunisia, 24 April 2020. EPA

A man walks past closed shops before the start of Ramadan in the usually bustling Medina of Rabat, Morocco, Thursday, April 23, 2020. AP Photo

Read more on Ramdan from The National:

'Nothing is normal this year': Lebanon readies for difficult Ramadan