In Pictures: Communities gather in prayer to mark end of Ramadan

PA Wire

Muslims across the UK and around the world have marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan by praying together in mosques and coming together to eat.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, when Muslims are encouraged to engage in dawn-to-dusk fasting for the month.

Typically a three-day festival, it begins with morning prayers before families mark the new month with gifts of toys and clothes.

Families celebrate Eid al-Fitr at Leeds Grand Mosque (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

Shoes are removed before entering the mosque (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

The celebrations saw families gather to pray with their neighbours (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

Similar to Easter Sunday in the Christian calendar, Eid does not fall on the same day every year.

Instead, Eid and the period of Ramadan are both determined by a new moon, as Islam follows the lunar calendar.

People hug and greet each other after Eid prayer during Sunnah at Bristol’s Big Eid Salah (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

Two-year-old Nuriya Faraz sits with her father (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

The three-day festival sees children given toys and new clothes (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

A small child rests at Leeds Grand Mosque (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

British Muslims have been forced to observe Covid-19 restrictions during Eid-al-Fitr for the past two years due to the pandemic, placing curbs on the usual festivities including large indoor gatherings.

During Ramadan adult Muslims who observe the fast do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

Thousands of people marked the end of Ramadan outdoors at the Green Lane Masjid at Small Heath Park in Birmingham (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

Prayer rugs were laid on the grass facing Mecca (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

Around the world, Muslim communities gathered in what for many was their first chance to mark the end of the holy month together.

A child watches as Muslim men pray in Grozny, Russia (Musa Sadulayev/AP) (AP)

Palestinian children as prayers are held in Gaza City (Khalil Hamra/AP) (AP)

A child plays with a balloon in Jakarta, Indonesia (Tatan Syuflana/AP) (AP)

Tens of thousands took part next to the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem (Mahmoud Illean/AP) (AP)

Muslim worshippers hug each other after offering Eid al-Fitr morning prayers at the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in Beirut, Lebanon (Hassan Ammar/AP) (AP)