Religious authorities in Malaysia have stepped up moral policing efforts during the holy month of Ramadan in what critics warn has been part of a wider recent shift toward a more conservative form of Islam in the multi-racial and culturally diverse nation.
Up north in the Bronx, an imam has turned the two-story brick residence that houses his mosque into a makeshift overnight shelter for migrants, many of them men from his native Senegal. Islamic institutions in the Big Apple are struggling to keep up with the needs of the city's migrant population as an increasing number of asylum seekers come from Muslim-majority African countries. The challenge has become all the more pronounced during Ramadan, which began March 11 and ends April 9.
Algeria's government has flooded newly opened markets selling subsidized goods with pantry staples to stave off shortages during Islam's holy month of Ramadan, when demand typically increases in Muslim-majority countries and prices tend to rise. Authorities have moved to increase food and fuel imports and also limit exports, hoping to meet the demands of Algerians preparing nightly feasts as their families break the sunrise-to-sunset fasting during Ramadan. The policies mark a reversal of the government’s longstanding practice of limiting imports to buoy local producers in the oil-rich North African nation with a struggling economy.