Tag: Fatwa

Summary This article surveys the different opinions regarding the maximum length of fasting for Muslims living in northern regions of the globe. My main concern is to ease the hardship that a sizeable population of Muslims may experience this year and in coming years as a result of fasting an exceptional number of hours. The point is to facilitate fasting during Ramadan and not to avoid fasting or to postpone it for another time or place. Many scholars have tried to answer the question of how long a Muslim should fast in the summer of the northern regions of the world (above 48 degrees latitude) as this article explains. Some recent fatwas have held that Muslims should fast between the (estimated) Fajr and the actual sunset, even if the number of hours is 23 out of 24, or make up for the days in another season or region if people find it too hard to fast. This article critiques these fatwas and presents a number of prominent contemporary opinions that better fulfil the objectives/maqasid of Ramadan.   Introduction This year, northern regions (i.e. above 48 degrees latitude) will experience excessively long fasts due to daylight calculations. In these parts of the world the period between the (estimated) Fajr time and the actual sunset ranges between 18 and 23 hours throughout the month of Ramadan. Several mainstream fatwas have concluded that...