Whoever
resides in a country where the night
can be distinguished from the day by the onset of dawn and the
setting of the sun, but the day is extremely long in the summer and
extremely short
in the winter, is obliged to perform the five daily prayers at the
times known in sharee’ah. That is because of the general meaning of the
words
of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):
“Perform As‑Salaat (Iqamaat‑as‑Salaat)
from mid‑day till the darkness of the night (i.e.
the Zuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, and ‘Ishaa’ prayers), and recite the
Qur’aan in the early dawn (i.e. the — Fajr morning prayer). Verily, the
recitation
of the Qur’aan in the early dawn (i.e. the morning — Fajr prayer) is
ever witnessed. al-Isra’ 17:78~
“Verily, As‑Salaah (the prayer) is
enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”
[al-Nisa’ 4:103]
And
because it was proven from Buraydah (may
Allaah be pleased with him) that a man asked the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) about the times of the prayers, and he
said to him: “Pray with us for these two” meaning two days. When the
sun passed its zenith, he told Bilaal to give the adhaan, then he told
him to
give the iqaamah for Zuhr. Then he told him to give the iqaamah for
‘Asr when the sun was still high and clear white. Then he told him to
give the
iqaamah for Maghrib when the sun had set. Then he told him to give
the iqaamah for ‘Isha’ when the red afterglow (twilight) had
disappeared. Then
he told him to give the iqaamah for Fajr when the dawn had appeared.
Then on the second day, he told him to delay Zuhr until the extreme
heat had
passed and he did so. He prayed ‘Asr when the sun was high, delaying
it beyond the time he had previously performed it. He prayed Maghrib
before
the twilight had vanished; he prayed ‘Isha’ when a third of the
night had passed; and he prayed Fajr when there was clear daylight. Then
he said:
“Where is the man who was asking about the time of prayer?” The man
said, “Here I am, O Messenger of Allaah.” The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for your prayer is
within the limits of what you have seen.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim)
It
was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn
al-‘Aas that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed
its
zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until
the time for ‘Asr comes. The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns
yellow. The
time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded. The time for
‘Isha’ lasts until midnight. The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from
the
beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to
rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises
between the
two horns of the Shaytaan.”
Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh.
And
there are other ahaadeeth which have been
narrated concerning the definition of the times of the five daily
prayers through the words and actions of the Prophet (peace and
blessings
of Allaah be upon him). It makes no difference whether the night and
day are long or short, so long as the times of the prayers can be
distinguished by the signs which were identified by the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
This
is with regard to the timings of the
prayers. With regard to the timings of their fast in Ramadaan, those
who are accountable should refrain from food, drink and everything else
that
invalidates the fast each day of Ramadaan, from the time of dawn
until sunset in their countries, so long as the night can be
distinguished from
the day, and when day and night together add up to twenty-four
hours. It is permissible for them to eat, drink, have intercourse, etc
during the
night only, even if it is short. The sharee’ah of Islam is universal
and applies to all people in all countries. Allaah says (interpretation
of
the meaning):
“and
eat and drink until the white thread
(light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread
(darkness of night), then complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall”
[al-Baqarah 2:187]
Whoever
is unable to complete the fast because the day is so
long, or who knows from experience or from the advice of a
competent. trustworthy doctor, or thinks it most likely that fasting
will lead to his
death or make him severely ill, or will make his sickness worse or
impede his recovery, may break his fast and make up the days that he
misses in
a month when he can make them up. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“So
whoever of you sights (the crescent on
the first night of) the month (of Ramadan i.e. is present at his
home), he must observe Sawm (fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on
a
journey, the same number [of days which one did not observe Sawm
(fasts) must be made up] from other days”
[al-Baqarah 2:185]
“Allaah burdens not a person beyond his
scope”
[al-Baqarah 2:286]
“Allaah does not want to place you in
difficulty”
[al-Maa'idah 5:6]
Secondly:
Whoever
lives in a land in which the sun does
not set during the summer and does not rise during the winter, or
who lives in a land in which the day lasts for six months and the night
lasts
for six months, for example, has to perform the five daily prayers
in each twenty-four hour period. They should estimate their times based
on the
nearest country in which the times of the five daily prayers can be
distinguished from one another, because it was proven in the hadeeth of
the
Isra’ and Mi’raaj (Prophet’s Night Journey and Ascent into Heaven)
that Allaah enjoined on this ummah fifty prayers each day and night,
then the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kept asking his
Lord to reduce it until He said, “O Muhammad, they are five prayers
each
day and night, and for each prayer will be the reward of ten, that
is fifty prayers…”
And
it was proven in the hadeeth of Talhah
ibn ‘Ubayd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: A
man from Najd with unkempt hair came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and we heard his loud voice but
could not understand what he was saying, till he came near and then we
came to
know that he was asking about Islam. The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “(You have to offer) five
prayers each day and night.” The man asked, “Do I have to do
anything else?” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon
him) said, “No, unless you want to offer voluntary (naafil)
prayers”…
And
it was proven in the hadeeth of Anas ibn
Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: We were
forbidden to ask the Messenger of Allaah (S) (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him) about anything, so we used to like it when an intelligent
man from among the desert people came and asked him a question in our
hearing.
A man from among the desert people came and said, “O Muhammad, your
messenger came to us and said that you claim that Allaah sent you.” He
said,
“He spoke the truth.” … The man said, “And your messenger claimed
that we have to offer five prayers each day and night.” The Prophet
(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “He spoke the truth.” The
man said, “By the One Who sent you, has Allaah enjoined that upon you?”
He
said, “Yes.” …
It
was proven that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told his companions about the
Dajjaal (antichrist). He was asked how long he would stay on earth, and
he
said, “Forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one
day like a week and the rest like your days.” It was said, “O Messenger
of
Allaah, the day which is like a year, will the prayers of one day be
sufficient for us then?” He said, “No, estimate them.” So the day which
will
be like a year is not regarded as one day in which only five prayers
will be sufficient, rather we are obliged to offer five prayers in each
twenty-four hour period. He commanded them to offer the prayers at
intervals as on a regular day.
So
the Muslims in the country mentioned in
the question have to define the times of prayer in that land, basing
those times on the closest country in which the night and day can be
distinguished from one another and the times of the five daily
prayers are known according to the signs described in sharee’ah, within
each
twenty-four hour period.
Similarly
they also have to fast Ramadaan.
They can set the time for their fast and determine the beginning and
end of Ramadaan and the times of starting and breaking the fast each
day by
the dawn and sunset each day in the closest country in which night
can be distinguished from day. The total period must add up to
twenty-four
hours, because of the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) about the Dajjaal mentioned above, in which he
told
his companions how to determine the times of the five daily prayers.
There is no difference in this regard between fasting and prayer.
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May
Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Buhooth
al-‘Ilmiyyah wa’l-Ifta’.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 6/130-136
SOURCE:
Islamqa, Fatwa no. 5842
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