Twitter celebrates Ramadan with holiday

Twitter

Twitter is getting festive for Ramadan.

The social media giant is celebrating the Islamic holy month with the release of two brand new hashflags and an easy way of figuring out when to break the daily fast.

Twitter users who tweet with the hashtags #Ramadan and #Eid will see a crescent moon and Arabic lettering pop up in their messages, the company announced in a blog post.

Users who tweet at the news organization Al Arabiya (@AlArabiya) with the hashtag #imsak or #iftar and the name of their city will receive a quick reply that tells them when exactly to start and break their fast.

For the world's 1.5 billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection. It falls on the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. Muslims are instructed to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex from sunrise to sunset.

Adherents are increasingly turning to social media to share their experience of the fast.

In 2013, users sent more than 74.2 million tweets about Ramadan from around the globe, according to Twitter's research.

A popular phrase, especially in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, was 'May you be in good health.' 'Prayer' is another highly-mentioned word during the month, with the most tweets getting sent from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

In the United States, users often tweeted about how hungry or thirsty they are during the long fast from sunrise to sunset.

Twitter also gathered all of their research about Ramadan in an interactive map.

DelMundo, Anthony freelance NYDN/Anthony DelMundo