Dubai
This year, Ramadan coincided with summer solstice in the UAE. With long summer days, came a longer period of fasting – 15 hours and 18 minutes at its peak.
However, residents came together in the month of giving, and looked beyond their own desires to help others. From social media initiatives like the ‘Sharing Fridges’ group on Facebook, which saw the community stock fridges for the less fortunate, to donations of books for the country’s Reading Nation campaign, the spirit of generosity was ever-present.
We asked our reader photographers to capture the month of Ramadan through their cameras. They didn’t have to look far. Streets were full of worshippers heading to the mosque at various times of the day, ending their fast in long rows, or visiting the night bazaars, in preparation for Eid.
Picture Editor K. P. Devadasan selected the three best submissions as winners. Here, we present the winners for the month of June:
Editor’s note: If you would like to participate, log on to Gulf News’ Facebook page and send in your submission for July’s Facebook Reader Picture Competition.
Gulf News reader Manoj Kumar V. K. took this photograph of people ready to end their fast, at Al Sajja labour camp in Sharjah. He said: ‘I was fascinated by the experience. There was a wonderful sense of brotherhood, unity and a sense of community among these people, who would gather each evening in Ramadan to end their fast.’
For Gulf News reader Prajeeth Ramakrishnan, an opportunity for a photograph came at the Museum of Islamic Art, in Qatar.
At Al Ghubaiba Bus Station in Bur Dubai, scores of worshippers prepared to end their fast. Gulf News reader Colachel Ebrahim said: ‘Hundreds of worshippers gathered outside of the Fatima Mohammad Hassan Mosque’s car park area, to end a 13-hour long fast. They waited patiently in very hot and humid conditions. This is a symbol of unity.’
