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The Ramadan Pole Paradox (view source)

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[[Image:Geographic Southpole.jpg|200px|The Geographic South Pole|thumb|right]]
[[Image:Geographic Southpole.jpg|200px|The Geographic South Pole|thumb|right]]


This set of questions and answers explores Ramadan's relation to the [[w:North Pole|North]] and [[w:South Pole|South Poles]]. According to [[Islamic Law|Islamic laws]] set out in the [[Qur'an]], the keeping and breaking of a [[Fasting|fast]] is related to times of sunrise and sunset which do not occur near the Poles as they would on other places on the Earth.
According to [[Islamic Law|Islamic laws]] set out in the [[Qur'an]] and [[hadith]], the keeping and breaking of a [[Fasting|fast]] and the times of [[prayer]], among other things, are related to times of sunrise and sunset. As one gets closer to the North or South Pole, the day or night can extend to up to several months each. At the North Pole itself, daylight and darkness lasts for more than 6 months at a time. Extending the five daily prayers of a period of several months appears to undermine the Islamic ritual, however, and fasting for such a period is evidently impossible.


== Concessions and fatwas ==
Islamic scholars have thus issued [[fatwa|fatwas]] instructing Muslims to follow the schedule of their original country or the schedule of the closest country with a distinguishable day and night. However, many Islamic scholars have declared that Muslims must fast for periods of up to and even beyond 20 hours.<ref>"Indeed, the fasts may be twenty hours long, but this is something one will have to adhere to." [http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1947&CATE=6 Fasting in extreme latitudes] - Sunnipath.com Q&A</ref>


'''''"How long is the day and night in countries near the North and South Poles?"'''''<BR>
== Extreme fasting windows ==
As we get closer to the North or South Pole, the day or night might extend for up to several months each. At the North Pole itself, daylight and darkness lasts for more than 6 months at a time.
See the following list. Fasting begins at Dawn and ends at Sunset.
 
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" width="90%"
 
!COUNTRY
'''''"Why can't a Muslim fast during Ramadan near the Poles?"'''''<BR>
!DATE
A Muslim will start the fast at daybreak and end it at sunset. Considering the Sun will be up in the sky for days and weeks and months, Muslims will have to starve to death. Our bodies can survive for multiple days without [[food]] but we will die without water.
!DAWN
 
!SUNSET
 
!LENGTH OF FAST
'''''"What solution did Islamic scholars offer for this problem?"'''''<BR>
Islamic scholars offered the only solution they could offer. The scholars issued a [[fatwa]] instructing Muslims to follow the schedule of their original country or the schedule of the closest country with a distinguishable day and night. One Islamic scholar declared that a Muslim must fast for 20 hours.<ref>"Indeed, the fasts may be twenty hours long, but this is something one will have to adhere to." [http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1947&CATE=6 Fasting in extreme latitudes] - Sunnipath.com Q&A</ref>
 
 
'''''"How long does a Muslim need to fast in theses countries which are close to the pole?"'''''<BR>
See the following list. Fasting begins at Dawn and ends at Sunset.<br />
 
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" width = "90%" class=wikitable
! COUNTRY
! DATE
! DAWN
! SUNSET
! LENGTH OF FAST
|-
|-
|Oslo, Norway
|Oslo, Norway
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|}
|}


So if a Muslim was fasting in Iceland, they would have to fast for nearly the entire day.
A Muslim was fasting in Iceland, according to some scholars, would have to fast for nearly the entire day.
 
'''''"Why is it not a valid solution to follow the schedule of our original country?"'''''<BR>
What if the Muslim was born near the Poles? And why should anyone have to follow the schedule of another country?
 
 
'''''"Why is it not a valid solution to follow the schedule of the closest country where day and night can be distinguished?"'''''<BR>
Again, why should anyone have to follow the schedule of another country? And what does the 'Closest Country' mean? The closest country will still have a day or a night that will extend for 23 hours.
 
[[Image:Arctic Ocean.png|thumb|upright=1.6|The North Pole.]]
 
 
'''''"What if a Muslim astronaut (e.g. Anousheh Ansari<ref>Behrouz Saba - [http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=894da88516d540eef2d9b4b388da8c8e First Female Muslim Astronaut Could Help Bridge U.S.-Iran Gap] - New America Media, September 20, 2006</ref>) goes in space and wants to pray salat or keep a fast?"'''''<BR>
A Muslim astronaut would not be able to face Mecca if they were in orbit or at the [[moon]], so scholars have taken matters into their own hands by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Muszaphar_Shukor#Spaceflight_and_religion creating] a handbook called ''Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites (Ibadah) at the International Space Station''. It must be mentioned that if a Muslim astronaut would spend time [[Salah|praying]] to [[Allah]] and keeping the fast on the moon, he/she would most likely be putting the mission in danger.  Additionally, there is no compulsion to fast when traveling, and space missions clearly qualify as travel.


== Criticisms ==
[[Image:Arctic Ocean.png|thumb|upright=1.6|The North Pole.]]Some have asked, if one is to follow the timings of their home city, what is to be the practice of a permanent Muslim resident or even community in near-polar regions. Additionally, when it comes to regions where the day extends to be weeks or even months, the time-window of fasting for the "closest country" where the fasting window is under a day, the time frame usually still ends up being near 24-hours.


'''''"Why do you think Islam did not take into consideration Muslim astronauts and Muslims living near the Poles?"'''''<BR>
Classical and conciliatory modern perspectives likewise appear unable to comfortably deal with the case of Astronauts, and eventually persons settling on extra-terrestrial bodies (moons, other planets, spacecraft, etc.). There is also the question of facing the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]], a city on earth, whilst not on earth. As there have been Muslim astronauts (e.g. Anousheh Ansari<ref>Behrouz Saba - [http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=894da88516d540eef2d9b4b388da8c8e First Female Muslim Astronaut Could Help Bridge U.S.-Iran Gap] - New America Media, September 20, 2006</ref>) some scholars have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Muszaphar_Shukor#Spaceflight_and_religion created] guidelines for these cases (one scholar wrote a handbook called ''[[w:Sheikh_Muszaphar_Shukor#Spaceflight_and_religion|Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites (Ibadah) at the International Space Station]]'').  
We can understand some 7<sup>th</sup> century desert dwellers not knowing about the poles or believing that Muslims would someday end up in space, but an omniscient being should have known better. Whoever made these rules either believed that the [[Flat Earth and the Quran|Earth is flat]], or the Earth is in a perfect perpendicular tilt relative to the Sun.


{{Core Science}}
Considering Muhammad and his 7th century companions, living in the Arabian desert, [[Did Muhammad and the early Muslims know that the Earth is round|likely did not know]] about the earth having poles and being spherical, the shortcomings of Islamic law in these regards are generally found to be unsurprising.{{Core Science}}


==See Also==
==See Also==
{{Hub4|Fasting|Fasting}}
{{Hub4|Fasting|Fasting}}
{{Hub4|Cosmology|Cosmology}}
{{Hub4|Cosmology|Cosmology}}


{{Translation-links-english|[[রমযানের মেরু প্যারাডক্স|Bengali]]}}
{{Translation-links-english|[[রমযানের মেরু প্যারাডক্স|Bengali]]}}


==External Links==
==External Links==
* [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.emirates247.com/arctic-muslims-unique-dilemma-in-ramadan-the-sun-never-sets-here-2012-07-24-1.468650|2=2012-08-07}} Arctic Muslims' unique dilemma in Ramadan: The Sun never sets here]
 
* [http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=5842&ln=eng How to pray and fast in countries where the day or night is continuous] ''- Fatwa response from the Islam Q&A team''
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.emirates247.com/arctic-muslims-unique-dilemma-in-ramadan-the-sun-never-sets-here-2012-07-24-1.468650|2=2012-08-07}} Arctic Muslims' unique dilemma in Ramadan: The Sun never sets here]
*[http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=5842&ln=eng How to pray and fast in countries where the day or night is continuous] ''- Fatwa response from the Islam Q&A team''


==References==
==References==
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