Ramadan Celebrations Commence amid Adversity and Unforeseen Obstacles

Saturday marked the start of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayer and religious devotion for hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.

INDIA

Thousands of Indian Muslims gathered on Sunday at New Delhi's iconic Jama Masjid mosque to break their Ramadan fasts.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has just begun in India and in the grounds of the mosque, families and groups of friends sat down as a call to prayer marked the time for 'Iftar,' or the breaking the daily fast.

During Ramadan, faithful Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and the holy month culminates in the festival of Eid al-Fitr.

Festivals and religious gatherings in India have been limited due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020.

Restrictions have now been lifted and the number of virus cases and deaths remain very low.

"I am feeling really happy. I have come to Jama Masjid after many years and it feels great to be here with my friends," said local resident, Rayan Sheikh.

PAKISTAN

Thousands of Muslims broke their fast at mosques in Karachi on Sunday evening as the holy month of Ramadan began in Pakistan.

But the raging war in Ukraine, which has sent energy and food prices soaring, cast a shadow this year over Islam’s holiest month, when large gatherings over meals and family celebrations are a tradition.

Many had been hoping for a more cheerful Ramadan, after the coronavirus pandemic cut off the world’s 2 billion Muslims from cherished Ramadan rituals for the past two years.

Instead, many find even the most basic items are too expensive to buy this year.

Before sunset, shops selling food items were thronging with customers eager to buy delicacies made especially in Ramadan.

"I wanted to buy a few Iftar items but I don't know what to buy and what to leave. Everything is so expensive this year," said Mohammad Afzaal, who works for a private company. "I don't have enough money to buy the things that I wanted to take home."

Philanthropists organized community Iftar meals at local Karachi mosques.

This is the first Ramadan in Pakistan after two years that is being observed without social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

AFGHANISTAN

Muslims in Afghanistan broke their fast Sunday evening, ending the second day of the holy month of Ramadan.

At one mosque in Kabul, a group of men dined on rice, meat and flatbread for their iftar evening meal.

Throughout Ramadan, Muslims abstain from any food or drink — including water — from morning to night.

While Afghan people were fasting on the second day of Ramadan, an explosion in the center of Kabul killed one person and wounded at least 59 others, according to hospital officials.

The blast was the first in the capital in months.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have stepped up security throughout most of the country since sweeping to power last August.

IRAN

Traditionally Iranians have flocked to marketplaces at the beginning of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, to shop for nuts, dates, sweets and other food for their Iftar and Suhur meals.

But this year, many people say they can no longer afford it.

Health officials have warned about food insecurity in recent months, as less people can afford proteins and other nutrients.

This has been mostly blamed on inflation, the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Iran's economy has also been hit hard by U.S. sanctions that have targeted the country's vital oil exports and cut it off from international banking networks, aiming at making Iran give up on its nuclear program.

The sanctions have caused Iran's currency to sink to new lows against the dollar in recent years.

Talks in Vienna between Iran and world powers over the removal of the sanctions have been going on for a year, with no results.

"The better-off people who can order goods by phone and pay tips to delivery guys are exceptions. Almost everyone is struggling," said Yusefi, a 62-year-old Tehran resident.

The new conservative government of President Ebrahim Raisi vowed to put an end on extreme poverty and support the lower classes.

But without a new deal with the West that could prove an extremely difficult task.

IRAQ

Iraqi Shiites in Karbala started their first day of Ramadan on Sunday by visiting and praying in the holy shrines of the city.

Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart.

While for much of the Middle East the holy month of Ramadan began at sunrise Saturday, Shiites in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon marked the start of Ramadan a day later.

Shiites represent over 10% of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims

Karbala is the holiest city for Shiite Muslims as it contains the shrines of Hassan and Hussein, grandsons of prophet Mohammed.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the Islamic year when Muslims are expected to fast from dawn to dusk in an effort to renew their focus on spiritual, rather than material, matters.

But in Iraq, the start of Ramadan highlighted widespread frustration over a meteoric rise in food prices, exacerbated in the past month by the war in Ukraine.

ISRAEL 

Scuffles broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem's old city on Sunday evening.

In a statement, the Israeli police said that they "arrested 10 suspects for disorderly conduct and assaulting police officers in the area. During the riots, one of the officers was lightly injured".

Tensions have soared in recent days after Palestinian assailants killed 11 Israelis in separate attacks across the country.

Israeli forces killed three Palestinian militants in a firefight in the occupied West Bank early Saturday, raising fears of further escalation of violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Israeli media said four members of a police counter-terrorism unit of the Israeli police were wounded, one of them seriously.

The troops came under fire as they attempted to arrest suspected militants in the northern West Bank.

Saturday marked the start of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayer and religious devotion for hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.

In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ramadan has often been a period of increased friction and confrontation.