The ninth month of the Muslim Lunar calendar is known as Ramadan, which is expected to begin on 5 or 6 June depending on the moon sighting. Muslims around the world will observe the day by fasting from sunrise to sunset. The observance of the holy month is one of the five pillars of Islam. The month-long fast is to commemorate the first Quranic revelation to Muhammad.

More about Ramadan

The beginning of the month is decided through moon sighting and continues for 29 or 30 days depending on the moon sighting for Eid-al-Fitr. During the fasting period, Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking, smoking and having sexual relations during daylight hours. Devotees are also expected to increase donations to the poor and other charities.

When Ramadan 2016 begins Muslims in the Arabic, Asian and European countries are expected to observe the first day of the holy month on 7 June. Meanwhile, The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia has appealed to Muslims around the Kingdom to report the sighting of the Crescent.

Eid Al-Fitr 2015 best apps
Muslims observe fast during the holy month of Ramadan Reuters

To commemorate the month, IBTimes UK has compiled a list of quotes to share with friends and family .

  1. "Fasting is a shield with which a servant protects himself from the fire." – Prophet Muhammad
  2. "Fasting is, first and foremost, an exercise for identifying and managing adversity in all its forms. With faith, in full conscience, fasting calls women and men to an extra degree of self-awareness." – Tariq Ramadan
  3. "O believers, fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you. So that you may become righteous." – Surah Al- Baqara Ayah 483
  4. "Ramadan is the month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness and whose end is freedom from fire." – Prophet Muhammad
  5. "He who gives iftar [evening meal] to another fasting person shall earn reward equivalent to a fasting man without detracting from the reward of the latter." – Prophet Muhammad
  6. "Three prayers are not rejected the prayers of a father, the prayers of a fasting person, and the prayers of a traveller." – Al-Bayhaqi
  7. "When the month of Ramadan start, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of hell are closed and the devils are chained." – Sahih al-Bukhari
  8. "Even if all the trees on earth were pens, and the ocean inks, with seven more oceans added to it, the words of Allah would not be exhausted: for Allah is infinite in power and wisdom" (Quran 31:27)
  9. "The lord you worship in Ramadan is the same lord you turn away from in all the others months." – Sheikh Abu Abdissalam
  10. "When the month of Ramadan arrives, the doors of mercy are opened." – Sahih Muslim249
    Ramadan photos