The underground station is empty from passengers during Iftar time.

By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

PARIS, October 6, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The 18th district at the Paris neighborhood of Barbes, at first glance, looks like a typical Arab area during the fast breaking hour in the holy month of Ramadan with almost empty streets and Muslims selling and distributing bread and Arab drinks in the predominantly Muslim district at the heart of the French capital.

The district's sole underground station is a mirror image of others in a city like Cairo with no passengers but only policemen and a few French heading home from work.

With no Adhan (call to prayers), calendars and the Orient radio are indispensable for French Muslims, who started observing the dawn-to-dusk fasting month, along with most Arab and Muslim countries, Tuesday, October 4.

Minutes before having their iftar (fast breaking meal at dusk) at 19:25 p.m., many of the faithful are seen making their way to Al-Fath grand mosque to perform the Maghreb (sunset) prayers and others arriving in a rash of Lebanese, Tunisian and Moroccan restaurants that line the district’s main roads and alleys.

“We feel like home during Ramadan,” Sofian, a French-Tunisian, told IslamOnline.net, sipping his favorite Tunisian soup.

After having their iftar, French Muslims in Barbes go in numbers to the disrict’s three mosques to perform `Isha’ (night) and Tarawih prayers.

A man called Ali stands outside Al-Fath mosque displaying his hand-made perfumes and prayer mats.

“Thank God I’m making handsome money during Ramadan,” he said.

Estimates indicate there are some 6 million Muslims living in France, mostly from north African countries and Turkey.

The number of mosques in France has increased to at least 1554, moving from rented underground rooms to owned places of worship in public places and squares.

The Paris northern suburb of Saint Denis hosts alone 97 mosques while there are 73 others in north France.