In pictures: Celebrating Eid

Muslims around the world have begun celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival which marks the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.

The end of Ramadan is marked with a celebratory meal - the first daytime meal for many Muslims for a month.

The festival begins when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky. Special services are held outdoors and in mosques.

Many Muslims, like these Palestinians at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, started Eid with early morning prayers.

Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking Allah for helping them practise self-control during Ramadan.

Eid is a time of forgiveness and making amends. For many Muslims, like this Iraqi woman, it is also a time to remember loved ones.

Amongst Palestinian Muslims it is traditional to buy palm fronds to lay on the graves of relatives.

The start of Eid celebrations saw these street children begging for money outside the Eid Gah mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

In the Phillipines - which is majority Christian - Eid was recognised as a regular holiday in 2002, in an effort to promote peace between the major religions in the country.

Islam is widely considered to be Europe's fastest growing religion. These Albanian worshippers are thought to be amongst 2.2m Muslims in the country - about 70% of the population.

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