A city where halal is a national system, mosques number in the hundreds, the Ramadan cannon sounds across the emirate, and the dress rule for visitors is modesty rather than a uniform.

Ottoman mosques with a view across two continents, a municipal iftar for 16,000 people every evening of Ramadan, and a cuisine that blends the palace kitchen with the cooking of the communities who have lived here for centuries.

Southeast Asia's largest mosque stands across from a Catholic church, halal certification is required by national law, and during Ramadan the street markets of Benhil sell light iftar snacks at sunset.

The Red Sea gateway for pilgrims since the seventh century, with coral-stone Al-Balad, a mosque built over the water, and Ramadan lantern bazaars in the old town.

Mamak cooking, Ramadan bazaars on every corner, a national mosque in 13 acres of gardens, and a hotel industry that treats Muslim travellers' needs as a baseline rather than an extra.

A city where halal dining runs from £8 rice bowls to Knightsbridge dining rooms, the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel houses its own restaurant, and the Mayor's Eid festival fills Trafalgar Square.

The city that welcomed the Prophet after the Hijrah, with the Prophet's Mosque open day and night, a pedestrian-friendly centre and Quba Mosque a short ride away.

The city every Muslim faces five times a day, where life runs to the rhythm of prayer times around Al Masjid Al Haram, and where only Muslims may enter.

The city of the halal cart and the Eid school holiday, where state law backs halal labelling and the human rights law says a restaurant cannot turn away a woman for wearing hijab.

Paris pairs a hundred-year-old Grande Mosquée, with its hammam and tea room, with French law on religious dress in schools and on covering the face in public.

Halal-certified sushi in Asakusa, prayer rooms near the big sights, and an Ottoman-style mosque that welcomes visitors, in a city where you plan ahead because there is no national halal authority.