FAQ 1.19

Fasting and observing the Salat in northern areas when

the sun hardly sets in some summer days?

Question:

How does one pray and fast in countries where the day or night is continuous like in some Scandinavian countries where regions nearest to one pole experience continuous day for many days. How can the believers rely on the sun’s movement in the sky as the decider for the times for the Salat and fasting when the sun is not in the sky or never leaves the sky?

Reply:

First, we must always remember that, all praise to God, the Quran provides guidance to all matters:

“ ………… We have brought the Book down to you providing explanations for all things plus guidance and mercy and giving news to the submitters.” 16:89

The clue to answer this good question is given in the following two verses:

[22:78] You shall strive in the cause of God with the sincerity the cause deserves. He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you within the religion. It is the creed of your father Abraham. He has named you submitters previously and in this. Thus, the messenger shall serve as a witness over you and you shall serve as witnesses over the people. Therefore, you shall observe the Salat and give the Zakat and hold fast to God. He is your Lord, the best Lord and the best Supporter.

[2:149] And from wherever you set off, you shall turn your face towards the Masjid Al-Haram.

In situations where hardship is caused, like fasting for very long hours in northern areas of the globe, God allows us to use the merciful concession in 22:78 to observe our rituals in accordance to an alternate timing so that no hardship is caused.

Since we are told in 2:149 that God appointed the Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca to be the focal point of the religion, thus it is advisable for people living in extreme areas to observe their fasting and their Salat according to the times at the Masjid Al-Haram (Mecca).

If the times of Mecca are to be followed then they must be followed at all times of the year and not only when it suits. In other words, in the deep winter days when the sun hardly rises above the horizon for more than minutes, and thus fasting would be for only few minutes, the believers should also follow the times of Mecca.

There will always be those who seek at every attempt to discredit the Quran by claiming that the Quran does not have all the details we need! They will claim that it is the hadith, or some fatwa, which gives us the correct answer to this issue.

One non-Quranic solution that has been suggested is that in such northern areas, under such extreme conditions, the believers should follow the time of the nearest town/country where the days are of reasonable length.

Apart from the sin in following other than the Quran for guidance, the error of leaving the Quranic verdict and following a man made solution will always lead to half cooked solutions.

The error in the above solution is as follows: What happens when a northern country is at the same proximity to a number of other countries and not just one? Which country's timing should be followed? According to the above method, there will be more than one eligible timing to choose from and follow, and indeed there will be voices to advise the believers to follow the timing of different candidate countries. What happens then? What will happen is that different believers will be starting their fasting and ending it at different times according to the fatwa of the Imam or sect which they follow. This will not help in offering unity of purpose when observing the rituals designed by God.

In contrast, if all believers followed the timing of the Masjid Al-Haram, which is set by God as the focal point of the religion, then unity will be maintained.