AP PHOTOS: Feeding Manhattan's hungry, every Ramadan night

NEW YORK (AP) — Fast. Pray. Act. Fast. Pray. Act.

For a group of Brooklyn Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is a blur: They fast during daylight hours, pray repeatedly, and use every bit of their remaining energy to feed the hungry.

And not just for their fellow Muslims. Every night during Ramadan, they decamp to Manhattan’s Herald Square, where in the shadow of Macy’s they provide food for as many as 200 people.

“While we are feeding them, we are also feeding our souls at the same time,” said Mohammed Bahe, director of the Muslim Community Center in Bay Ridge.

And they are filling a void.

During Ramadan, Bahe says, the mosque is usually “a madhouse” in the evenings -- at least 100 people cleaning, putting tables away. Men reading the Quran and drinking coffee. Kids running around.

But this year, the gatherings have been forbidden as health risks. The mosque, or masjid, “feels empty and the lack of the community and congregation makes me sad,” he says.

So Muslims Giving Back, a group which operates out of his center, has redoubled its efforts to feed the hungry. Since 2014, their Need2Feed project has brought food to Herald Square two nights a week; during this viral Ramadan, they decided to do it every night.

“If you want doors to open, do good,” said Mohammed Widdi, coordinator of Muslims Giving Back. “Every single time I donate my time, Allah, would throw me another blessing. It’s ingrained in us.”

The volunteers’ days start with prayers before 5 a.m., and a pre-dawn meal. By 9 a.m., donations start to come in; they go out to buy food and other goods.

Some of the food comes from donors like Hamza Deib, the 28-year-old owner of Brooklyn’s Taheni Mediterranean Grill. The halal food he donates is the same that he serves in his...