Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by fasting, praying and giving to charity. Only when the sun has set do they break their fast with an evening meal called iftar.Despite wars, economic hardship and the threat of ethnic violence, these photos capture the enduring joy of nightly feasts – and the sustaining effect of human connection – in uncertain times.
Tawfik Al-Akraa, 58, and his family are seen during the iftar dinner in Deir Al Balah, Gaza in April. Al-Akraa and his family live in a makeshift tent and in insufficient conditions. Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A cab driver breaks his fast on duty on the first day of Ramadan at Kizilay neighborhood in Ankara, Turkey. Photo: Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Believers during first iftar dinner devoted to the month of Ramadan in the "Tugan Avylym" entertainment complex in Kazan, Russia. Photo: Alexey Nasyrov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Volunteers prepare iftar food plates along a street in Karachi, Pakistan, in April. Photo: RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP via Getty Images
Family members of Rohingya refugees eat their iftar meal at their house in a camp in New Delhi. A court ruling had ordered them to return to Myanmar in the coming days. Photo: Imtiyaz Khan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A celebrates iftar in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Photo: Akila Jayawardana/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Muslim vendors pray in their Ramadan bazaar stall ahead of iftar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Annice Lyn/Getty Images
Men have an iftar meal to break their fast during the second week of Ramadan, at a roadside eatery in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: AP/Dita Alangkara
Thai Muslims eat the first iftar meal in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Guillaume Payen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Two women share iftar at the Sultanahmet Square with the Blue mosque in the background, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images
Iraqis gather for an iftar meal, offered by local activists, in the central shrine city of Najaf, some 160 kilometres south of Baghdad. Photo: ALI NAJAFI/AFP via Getty Images
People have iftar in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua via Getty
Syrians gather for a mass iftar in North Aleppo. Photo: Muhammed Said/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
66-year old Fatuma Hussein (right) and her daughter Zaria Hussein enjoy their special iftar meal after sunset during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy
People break their fast in Khartoum, Sudan at tables set by the road. Photo: Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Muslim devotees break their fast in the Catholic Church Santa Anna in Barcelona, Spain. Photo: Adria Puig/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
People gather to break their fast in Rome, Italy. The event was organised by the Bangladesh in Italy Association, the Indian Association, the Pakistan Association and the Afghanistan Association. Photo: Stefano Montesi - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
Ifrah Ahmed, a Somali-Irish woman living in Dublin, prepares her iftar dinner inside her apartment. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Muslims line up for the iftar distributed in the restaurant section of the Diyanet Center of America (DCA) after the evening prayer in Maryland, United States. Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Palestinians share the iftar meal at the beach in the Gaza Strip earlier this month. Photo: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images