Cairo, Egypt ? A Ramadan marked by violence in the Middle East ended across most of the region Monday night, as Muslims prepared for the three-day Eid el-Fitr holiday that closes the holy month of fasting.

The Eid — associated with family gatherings over lavish meals and gifts for children — began in Baghdad on Monday, with security increased during the night ahead of massive morning prayers that usher in the celebrations.

In Lebanon, where the Eid begins today, Muslims hurrying home to break their last fast of the month were caught in a rainstorm that flooded streets and jammed traffic.

In Saudi Arabia and Egypt, shoppers packed malls and shops, looking for last-minute gifts. Food shops in the Jordanian capital Amman prepared fresh Arabic sweets, and hotels decorated their entrances with colorful lights.

“I’m happy because I just got a new PlayStation for the Eid,” said Ahmad Shahin, 12, munching on a McDonald’s burger at Amman Mall. “It will keep me and my friends very busy.”

During Ramadan, observant Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and other worldly pleasures from dawn to dusk.

Ramadan — a month of spiritual renewal for Muslims and time for charity and meditation — has been extremely violent this year, starting with a series of bombings in Baghdad that killed scores of people in the first days of the holy month. An attack on an Italian military compound in Iraq on Nov. 12 killed 26 people.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, suicide attacks at a residential compound killed five and wounded more than 80 on Nov. 8. In Turkey, bombers targeted two Jewish synagogues on Nov. 15, killing 23 people. Five days later, twin truck bombers killed 30 people when they crashed into the British Consulate and a London-based bank.

It is believed that in Ramadan good deeds are rewarded 10 times; some suggest that Muslim militants might believe they will get higher rewards for acts of jihad in that month.

Brothers Mohammed, foreground, and Abu Bakr Mohamed eat dates and drink milk, the traditional food to break the fast on the last night of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Al Imam Mosque in Queens, N.Y. Monday and today mark the end of Ramadan in different parts of the world.