Salaam,
According to Quran we're supposed to fast from dawn to dusk.
But how would those Muslims who live in areas where there are 24 hour daylight or 24 hour nights..... fulfil this requirement of God?
Would an exception have to be made for them? Would they just pick any 12 hours to fast?
Fasting in far flung places
-
Arnold Yasin Mol
Fasting in far flung places
Salaam Mussawir,
The Quran refers to those who oberve the moon/month must do saum/abstaining and that it is only for those who are not ill, pregnant or have it difficult through certain circumstances or because they live in a to harsh enviroment, for example those that live in the artic who need to eat to keep their body temperature up.
It is also interresting that the Quran refers to witnessing the moon/shahr/month. There are some theories that ramadhan, which means also hot period, together with shahr/moon/month, refers to the moon phase in the hottest month when it is in the lowest phase in the orbit.
This phenomena is only observed by the main area's on earth and not by most North or South area's on Earth. In this way people living in extreme cold area's are left out as they cannot witness the moonphase.
This theory sounds very logical as it solves the question who can and cannot fast, plus the Saum-period would be determined by a natural sign in nature, which is always used in the Quran, for example the woman must always wait 3 menstruations-periods.
As Ramadhan is a name humans have given to one of the 12 months in the year.
But these are all theories that still need a lot of research before they can be taken serious. It is all one big discovering as can be seen QXP and other progressive works.
2:183 (Creating an ideal society requires discipline and self-restraint among the individuals.) O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! Abstinence (from food, drink and sex during the daytime) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you so that you get empowered against evil.
[I have translated Saum as ‘Abstinence’ instead of the common ‘fasting’ since it involves more than fasting, such as abstaining from intimate husband-wife relationship. Moreover, Saum literally means self-restraint, and not fasting, hence, it includes desisting from common vices such as impatience, anger, unfair criticism, envy etc. Taqwa = Journeying in security = Being careful and observant = Getting empowered against evil = To avoid overstepping the laws = Exercising caution = Strengthening one’s ‘self’ = Preserving the ‘self’ against deterioration = Good conduct. Muttaqeen = Those endowed with Taqwa]
2:184 Just for a fixed number of days. But if any of you is sick or he is on a journey, he may make up the same number of days later. For those who can go through Abstinence only with hardship, there is a way of redemption: the feeding of an indigent. Any additional charity will bring additional reward. However, going through the training program of Abstinence is better for you, if you only knew.
2:185 The month of Ramadhan has been chosen for this collective training since this is the month in which the Qur’an was revealed, a guidance for mankind, clearly explaining the ‘why’ of every Rule. And it is the Criterion of right and wrong. Hence, whoever witnesses this month should participate in the program of Abstinence. But if any of you is sick or on a journey, let him practice Abstinence for the same number of days later. God desires for you ease, and He does not desire hardship for you. The postponement is to enable you to complete the period. The objective of this training is to establish the supremacy of God (on earth) for, He has shown you a well-lighted road, and for you to show gratitude.
2:186 (This training program has nothing to do with asceticism. The mystics think that self-denial will bring them close to God.) So, when My servants ask you about Me, surely, I am Near. I respond to the prayer of the suppliant when he calls unto Me. Let them also listen to My call, and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright.
[God’s response = A sincere caller will be shown the right direction = Al-Qur’an has answers to all their questions. 3]
2:187 (Abstinence is only for the daytime.) It has been made lawful for you to go to your wives on the night of the Abstinence. They are your garments and you are their garments - close to each other, source of mutual comfort, complementing each other, trustworthy and keepers of privacy, reason for décor, and redressers of faults. God knows that you would have deprived yourselves and so He turns to you and pardons your misconceptions. So, now you may have intimate relations with them and, besides, seek all good that God has ordained for you. You may eat and drink until you can discern the white streak of light against the black streak of night at daybreak. Then complete the Abstinence until sunset. Do not have intimate relations with them while on special assignments in the Centers of the Divine System. These are the bounds set by God - so come not near violating them. Thus God explains His commands to mankind clearly, so that they understand and remain observant.
[I’tikaaf = Special task = To be deputed = Extra duty = Unique assignment. ‘Aakifoon = Those on I’tikaaf. Unfortunately, under the Ajami (alien) influences, the concept given to I’tikaaf has reduced this Sublime Ordinance to ten days of ascetic and ritualistic isolation in a mosque in the third part of Ramadhan. Obviously, this invented practice violates the Qur’anic injunctions against monasticism and human rights. (57]
2:188 (When you abstain from the permissible during the annual training period, you empower yourselves to easily refrain from the forbidden.) So, knowingly, do not devour the wealth and property of one another in a wrongful manner, nor bribe the officials or the judges to deprive others of their rightful belongings. This kind of behavior drags down your own humanity and harms the collective welfare of the society. [Ithm carries all the meanings given in the last sentence]
2:189 (Self-control is a life-long commitment extending beyond the month of Ramadhan.) They ask you (O messenger) about the phases of the Moon. Say, “They are calendars to help mankind determine certain seasons such as Hajj.†But know that righteousness can never be achieved by entering the System through the back door of ritualism. Only he who lives an upright life attains it. Enter the Divinely ordained way of Life straightforward as you must enter houses through their gates. Live an upright life so that you may reap a rich harvest. [2]
The Quran refers to those who oberve the moon/month must do saum/abstaining and that it is only for those who are not ill, pregnant or have it difficult through certain circumstances or because they live in a to harsh enviroment, for example those that live in the artic who need to eat to keep their body temperature up.
It is also interresting that the Quran refers to witnessing the moon/shahr/month. There are some theories that ramadhan, which means also hot period, together with shahr/moon/month, refers to the moon phase in the hottest month when it is in the lowest phase in the orbit.
This phenomena is only observed by the main area's on earth and not by most North or South area's on Earth. In this way people living in extreme cold area's are left out as they cannot witness the moonphase.
This theory sounds very logical as it solves the question who can and cannot fast, plus the Saum-period would be determined by a natural sign in nature, which is always used in the Quran, for example the woman must always wait 3 menstruations-periods.
As Ramadhan is a name humans have given to one of the 12 months in the year.
But these are all theories that still need a lot of research before they can be taken serious. It is all one big discovering as can be seen QXP and other progressive works.
2:183 (Creating an ideal society requires discipline and self-restraint among the individuals.) O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! Abstinence (from food, drink and sex during the daytime) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you so that you get empowered against evil.
[I have translated Saum as ‘Abstinence’ instead of the common ‘fasting’ since it involves more than fasting, such as abstaining from intimate husband-wife relationship. Moreover, Saum literally means self-restraint, and not fasting, hence, it includes desisting from common vices such as impatience, anger, unfair criticism, envy etc. Taqwa = Journeying in security = Being careful and observant = Getting empowered against evil = To avoid overstepping the laws = Exercising caution = Strengthening one’s ‘self’ = Preserving the ‘self’ against deterioration = Good conduct. Muttaqeen = Those endowed with Taqwa]
2:184 Just for a fixed number of days. But if any of you is sick or he is on a journey, he may make up the same number of days later. For those who can go through Abstinence only with hardship, there is a way of redemption: the feeding of an indigent. Any additional charity will bring additional reward. However, going through the training program of Abstinence is better for you, if you only knew.
2:185 The month of Ramadhan has been chosen for this collective training since this is the month in which the Qur’an was revealed, a guidance for mankind, clearly explaining the ‘why’ of every Rule. And it is the Criterion of right and wrong. Hence, whoever witnesses this month should participate in the program of Abstinence. But if any of you is sick or on a journey, let him practice Abstinence for the same number of days later. God desires for you ease, and He does not desire hardship for you. The postponement is to enable you to complete the period. The objective of this training is to establish the supremacy of God (on earth) for, He has shown you a well-lighted road, and for you to show gratitude.
2:186 (This training program has nothing to do with asceticism. The mystics think that self-denial will bring them close to God.) So, when My servants ask you about Me, surely, I am Near. I respond to the prayer of the suppliant when he calls unto Me. Let them also listen to My call, and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright.
[God’s response = A sincere caller will be shown the right direction = Al-Qur’an has answers to all their questions. 3]
2:187 (Abstinence is only for the daytime.) It has been made lawful for you to go to your wives on the night of the Abstinence. They are your garments and you are their garments - close to each other, source of mutual comfort, complementing each other, trustworthy and keepers of privacy, reason for décor, and redressers of faults. God knows that you would have deprived yourselves and so He turns to you and pardons your misconceptions. So, now you may have intimate relations with them and, besides, seek all good that God has ordained for you. You may eat and drink until you can discern the white streak of light against the black streak of night at daybreak. Then complete the Abstinence until sunset. Do not have intimate relations with them while on special assignments in the Centers of the Divine System. These are the bounds set by God - so come not near violating them. Thus God explains His commands to mankind clearly, so that they understand and remain observant.
[I’tikaaf = Special task = To be deputed = Extra duty = Unique assignment. ‘Aakifoon = Those on I’tikaaf. Unfortunately, under the Ajami (alien) influences, the concept given to I’tikaaf has reduced this Sublime Ordinance to ten days of ascetic and ritualistic isolation in a mosque in the third part of Ramadhan. Obviously, this invented practice violates the Qur’anic injunctions against monasticism and human rights. (57]
2:188 (When you abstain from the permissible during the annual training period, you empower yourselves to easily refrain from the forbidden.) So, knowingly, do not devour the wealth and property of one another in a wrongful manner, nor bribe the officials or the judges to deprive others of their rightful belongings. This kind of behavior drags down your own humanity and harms the collective welfare of the society. [Ithm carries all the meanings given in the last sentence]
2:189 (Self-control is a life-long commitment extending beyond the month of Ramadhan.) They ask you (O messenger) about the phases of the Moon. Say, “They are calendars to help mankind determine certain seasons such as Hajj.†But know that righteousness can never be achieved by entering the System through the back door of ritualism. Only he who lives an upright life attains it. Enter the Divinely ordained way of Life straightforward as you must enter houses through their gates. Live an upright life so that you may reap a rich harvest. [2]