Ramadan fasting normally runs from dawn to sunset. In northern Norway there are weeks when the sun does not set. Even farther south there can be a sunset and still be a very long interval between dawn and nightfall. The two situations raise different questions about applying a religious rule. Published answers from Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta and the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America show how jurists reason from the same text towards different timetables. Quran 2:187 · Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, fasting during extended daylight · AMJA, Polar Prayer Times and Fasting · Visit Tromsø, the Arctic summer
What the Quran says about timing and circumstances
Quran 2:187 gives a sign for the beginning of the fast in the light of dawn becoming distinguishable from the dark of night. The verse directs worshippers to continue the fast until nightfall. The beginning is therefore earlier than sunrise under ordinary conditions. Verse 2:185 also addresses the person who is ill or travelling and provides for missed days to be made up later. The passage sets out both the observance and circumstances that affect how it is carried out. Quran 2:185 · Quran 2:187
When daylight is very long
Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta published a response to a question about fasting in the United Kingdom when the fast might last about nineteen hours. Its response treats eighteen hours or more as a case for a different calculation. In the method it describes, the fast begins at local dawn and ends after the same number of hours as the fast in Mecca that day. The reference is a duration. The clock time in Mecca is used to calculate a length of time, which is then added to local dawn. Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, fasting during extended daylight
When the usual signs are absent
The answer published by the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America begins with a different distinction. Where day and night are recognisable and there is sufficient time at night to eat and prepare for another fast, it generally retains the local signs. If that distinction disappears or the interval is too short, the answer allows for estimation and favours using the nearest place with discernible day and night. It also records the view that a holy city such as Mecca or Medina should provide the reference instead. AMJA, Polar Prayer Times and Fasting
Tromsø’s midnight sun illustrates what it means for an ordinary timing marker to be absent. If Ramadan overlaps that part of the summer, waiting for the local sun to set would provide no daily endpoint. For a long but distinguishable day, the difficulty concerns how long the interval lasts. The legal responses show that choosing a reference and deciding when to use it are separate questions. Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, fasting during extended daylight · AMJA, Polar Prayer Times and Fasting · Visit Tromsø, the Arctic summer
Conclusion
The Quran sets out a daily fast with observable markers. Unusual daylight makes jurists consider when those markers can be used and how a timetable can be estimated in other circumstances. Comparing the two responses shows how an inherited rule can continue to guide practice while its application is worked out for particular places and seasons.
Published by Ralf. About our editorial process.
