National Mosque Fund

Fasting in Abnormal Timings
By the Grace of Allāh, the blessed month
of Ramaḍān will be starting on June
6, 2016. In these days, the prayers and
fast timings in the northern most cities
of Canada will differ from other cities.
The majority of the area is above the
50 degrees line of latitude, and for this
reason during the course of the year, in
summer the nights become very short,
while in winter the days become very
short.
By the Grace of Allah, as the Jamā‘at
is established in all parts of Canada,
there is a need to address the abnormal
prayer times and fast times in Ramaḍān
experienced in relevant cities.
In abnormal geographic conditions, what
would be the timings of prayers as well
as Sahr and Ifṭār timings in Ramaḍān?
Regarding this the Holy Qur’ān and
Sunnah (practice of the Holy Prophet sa ),
Fiqh Aḥmadīyya and sermons of the
Khulafā’ provide ample guidance. In
particular, the Friday Sermon of Hazrat
Khalīfatul-Masīḥ IV rh on January 9, 1996
is a milestone in this regard.
For the benefit of all, extracts pertaining
to prayer timings and the timings of fasts
in Ramaḍān in abnormal geographical
conditions are being presented below
from the Friday Sermon of Hazrat
Khalīfatul-Masīḥ IV rh so that they can
guide in the determination of correct
prayer timings and fasts in Ramaḍān.
Huzoor rh states:.
. . . where the obvious solar
indications are lacking, and fail
to distinguish different parts
of a day; that is, where obvious
solar indications, which normally
maintain a day of 24 hour span, fail,
in such cases the commandments of
prayers are modified, and require
approximation. And Islām has
permitted approximation, and the
wisdom behind it is self-evident.
In an extremely long fast, no one
would survive beyond the first fast,
and yet, no one would know how to
keep a shorter fast; the whole ordeal
would become chaotic. As such
abnormal days occur, even if they
occur in a 24 hour period, the Holy
Qur’ān amazingly gives such rules
of worship that in those days, these
(usual) rules are dropped, and an
estimation becomes applicable. That
is to say, it is not necessary for a day
to exceed 24 hours to be considered
an abnormal day. Even a day that has
approximately reached 24 hours, can
still become an impossibility, and
where it becomes an impossibility,
at that every moment an estimation
becomes applicable.
. . . The Holy Prophet sa has said to
estimate according to typical days.
Typical days are those in which
timings of five daily prayers can
be distinctly identified by solar
indications.
. . . when worships are clearly
evident based on solar indications,
and where Ramaḍān fulfills the
criteria that the white thread can be
distinguished from the black thread
(as per Holy Qur’ān), such days are
considered normal. Where these
criteria are not met, there you must
make approximations.
Huzoor rh further states: “. . . therefore,
understand well the context of Ramaḍān;
where the obvious indicators are
lost, there it is mandatory for you to
approximate the usual ‘normal’ timings
of the day.” (Al-Fazl Weekly London,
March 8, 1996, pp. 7 to 8)
28 Fasting in Abnormal Timings