Ramadan

A man thought to be a foreign national living in Istanbul's Şişli district has attacked a Ramadan drummer with a knife and "stabbed the drum" after a short chase.

Every year, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, thousands of drummers take to the streets of Turkey in the dark of night.

Turkey announced on April 20 that it is postponing a much-anticipated Afghan peace conference in Istanbul until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A 75-year-old Ramadan drummer has been waking residents in southern Turkey to have a pre-fast meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for 20 years.

In Turkey's metropolitan province of Istanbul, drummers dressed in Ottoman-style attires have been keeping the age-old tradition of Ramadan alive for centuries of beating their drums in the wee hours of the morning to wake residents for their "sahur" meal, the first meal of the day eaten before observing the fast.

Surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the world overshadowed the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on April 13, with festivities curtailed by contagion fears.

The holy fasting month of Ramadan has begun with Muslims from all over the world observing the fast under the shadow of the pandemic.

Turkish miners in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak have also marked the start of Ramadan by having a "sahur," a pre-dawn meal before starting the fast, 250 meters below ground.

The Reisu-l-Ulema of the Islamic Community of Serbia, Sead Nasufović, said on Monday that followers of Islam can receive the COVID-19 vaccine during the Ramadan fast.

The holy month of Ramadan in Turkey has begun under stricter measures designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The country last year also took similar measures in the face of the outbreak.

Muslims around the world are celebrating Ramadan this month by reading the Quran, praying, fasting and doing good works.

Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims. This year, Ramadan will begin in the evening of Monday, April 12, and ends in the evening of Wednesday, May 12.

Almost 2 million Muslims observe Ramadan.

Only hours before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, mahyas were hung in significant mosques of Turkey's northwest cities such as Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa, which once served as Ottoman capitals.

Turkey's General Directorate of Foundations continued the hundreds of year old tradition of hanging mahyas to significant mosques this year as well.