Fasting during the long summer days

format_quote Originally Posted by sister herb

http://www.islamicfinder.org/prayerP...ay=Lappi&lang=

Welcome to our Ramadan...

Why does the sunrise and sunset suddenly switch on the 27th? On the 26th the sun rises at 5:50 and on the next day 4 hours earlier?
I can't work out why it should do that.

Same with the sunset. 20:46 one day and 00:41 the next?

Can you explain?

Quite interesting!

Why not go to Mecca and spend Ramadan there instead of using Meccan time. Is there a fatwa that allows using Meccan time?

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Why does the sunrise and sunset suddenly switch on the 27th? On the 26th the sun rises at 5:50 and on the next day 4 hours earlier?
I can't work out why it should do that.

Same with the sunset. 20:46 one day and 00:41 the next?

Can you explain?

I live so north that sun is shinig all night. I don´t stay in Utsjoki but here too my night is now only 3 hours.

format_quote Originally Posted by sister herb

I live so north that sun is shinig all night. I don´t stay in Utsjoki but here too my night is now only 3 hours.

Oh, so those are the prayer times rather than the actual times for sunrise and sunset?
What or where do the sunrise and sunset times on your link refer to then?

I googled and found out that the days are 24 hours long for the whole of June and most of July.
http://www.sunrise-and-sunset.com/en/finland/utsjoki

Yes dear. At Utsjoki sun doens´t rise or down at all. Day take 24 hours.

Salam alaykum

It is normal here to follow times of the nearest islamic country like Turkey or Saudi Arabia/Mecca.

Some remove fasting to winter if they live in the Lappland (welcome to fast 24 hours every day a month!)

format_quote Originally Posted by greenhill

Sister herb, that would be fasting a whole month!

Exactly! It would mean that Muslims could not survive in certain parts of the world.

Actually there is a hadith about that. I don't remember it exactly, but it was about the anti-Christ and how the day would last a year and another day would last a month, and another day would last a week, etc. The companions asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم how they would pray in those days. The Prophet told them to calculate the time and pray accordingly.

So while this hadith is about the anti-Christ, it can be used to solve the issue of places with 24 hour days and 24 hour nights. In such places you would calculate the time and pray (and fast) accordingly, instead of fasting 24 hours. I like the idea of using the hours of the nearest Muslim country. Thus, if fast starts at 4 AM and ends at 6 PM in nearby Muslim country, then one can use those timings for their fasts. Also, for prayer, you would calculate the prayer timings since you can't determine them with the movements of the sun. (this would be for those places with 24 hour day or 24 hour night.)

There's an answer to everything in Islam. This is because this religion is from God and God knew that such issues would arise.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Exactly! It would mean that Muslims could not survive in certain parts of the world.

That is absolutely not true, as the above few posts have just explained. In the very verses related to fasting in the Qur'an, the concept of ease in Islam is highlighted.

183. O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -

184. [Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.

185. The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.

[Al-Baqarah 2: 183-185]


The people of old age, the sick and the travellers are all taken into account. In verse 185, the concessions are repeated to emphasise that the religion is ease. Then Allaah says (interpetation of the meaning), Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship...


And there are many other texts both in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah which make this point. An example from the hadith is where the Prophet said, '...Allah did not send me to be harsh, or cause harm, but He has sent me to teach and make things easy.' [Muslim 1478, part of a longer hadith].


So in every situation, the circumstances have been accounted for, and Islam is the religion for all times and all places. We rememeber always that our Creator legislated this beautiful religion from His infinite knowledge and perfect wisdom.

Muhammad, what I meant to say is that if Muslims had to abide by the daylight hours of their country (as some posters seem to have suggested), they simply would not be able to survive the month of Ramadan in certain parts of the world, where such ruling would mean not being able to break the fast for the entire month.

Your evidence shows otherwise, so I am glad to hear that Muslims can and indeed do exist in every part of the world.

edited

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

Muhammad, what I meant to say is that if Muslims had to abide by the daylight hours of their country (as some posters seem to have suggested), they simply would not be able to survive the month of Ramadan in certain parts of the world, where such ruling would mean not being able to break the fast for the entire month.

Yes, that is clearly not the case because it is inconceivable that God would ask us to do something beyond our capability. He has forbidden us to cause harm to our body, how then could he legislate something that forces harm upon us? That is why it's important to speak about these issues based upon knowledge and understanding, as ignorance paves the way to misguidance.

There are a number of scholarly verdicts regarding what to do in places where the sun shines for 24 hours, for example:
http://islamqa.info/en/ref/5842
http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/in...cles&id=152755

Salam alaykum

I think that fasting 24 hours daily is bad to yourself!

Narrated Anas bin Malik: A group of three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet asking how the Prophet worshipped (Allah), and when they were informed about that, they considered their worship insufficient and said, "Where are we from the Prophet as his past and future sins have been forgiven." Then one of them said, "I will offer the prayer throughout the night forever." The other said, "I will fast throughout the year and will not break my fast." The third said, "I will keep away from the women and will not marry forever." Allah's Apostle came to them and said, "Are you the same people who said so-and-so? By Allah, I am more submissive to Allah and more afraid of Him than you; yet I fast and break my fast, I do sleep and I also marry women. So he who does not follow my tradition in religion, is not from me (not one of my followers)." (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr: Allah's Messenger was informed that I have said: "By Allah, I will fast all the days and pray all the nights as long as I live." On that, Allah's Messenger asked me. "Are you the one who says: 'I will fast all the days and pray all the nights as long as I live?' " I said, "Yes, I have said it." He said, "You cannot do that. So fast (sometimes) and do not fast (sometimes). Pray and sleep. Fast for three days a month, for the reward of a good deed is multiplied by ten time, and so the fasting of three days a month equals the fasting of a year." I said, "O Allah's Messenger ! I can do (fast) more than this." He said, "Fast on every third day. I said: I can do (fast) more than that, He said: "Fast on alternate days and this was the fasting of David which is the most moderate sort of fasting." I said, "O Allah's Messenger ! I can do (fast) more than that." He said, "There is nothing better than that." [Sahih al-Bukhari 3418]