Twitter has been awash with people wishing each other peace and happiness to mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when eligible Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset for 30 days.
Celebrated worldwide, the annual occasion unfolds on the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and involves extra prayers and spending time with family and friends.
Ramadan begins this year on June 18, and will continue until Friday July 17. Muslims began their first fast at sunrise on Thursday and are not able to eat or drink during daylight hours.
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Tweets to mark the start of Ramadan ranged from messages of love and devotion, to some who were feeling a bit more creative:
Each day, families and friends gather for Iftaar, a meal at sundown when they break their fast.
People who are unwell, children, and sometimes athletes, are exempt from fasting.
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Many observing Ramadan wished people joy and happiness for the period, which aims to be a time of reflection to enable people to work towards personal and spiritual improvement.
Some tweeters were upset that One Direction's Zayn Malik, who was recently named as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world, hadn't tweeted about Ramadan, and urged the star to share his wishes:
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The East London Mosque put together the times below for Muslims fasting London. It has also supplied versions for other areas in the country. ‘Fajr’ refers to the first prayers at dawn, Zuhr is noon prayers, Asr is afternoon worship, Maghrib for evening and Isha for nighttime.
