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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Logic For Islamic Rules How To Pray and Fast in the Polar Regions? Question: When we meet some materialists and non-Muslim people they say that how can Islam be a universal religion while its laws be applied only in our areas and area like ours. For example to pray five times a day and fast in the month of Ramadan is not possible at the north and the south poles because there the days and nights are exceptionally long.

Some places have a six-month day and a six-month night. Answer: By divine wisdom, Islamic law has provided the solution to such problems before they arose. On the basis of this, Islamic laws are enforceable without any difference. The explanation of this statement is that our senior jurisprudents have discussed this problem in their books. For example, the late Kazim Yazdi, who is of our senior jurisprudent.

In this book Urwathul Wuthqa he has mentioned this problem and given a clear verdict that the duty of such people is that they must pray and fast according to the timings of areas which have moderate day and nights. But these people should see how long the days and nights in that season are. And then he can fast according to it and perform the five daily prayers. This matter can also be explained in another way by which all the doubts and objections are dispelled. (Please note).

In the Polar region where the nights and days are long and sometimes the sun is visible in the sky for six months, and it does not set, it goes from one horizon to the other once in every twenty four hour. In such regions the movement of the sun around the horizon is not the same all the year round. When it circles the horizon once sometimes it goes up and sometimes it comes down and seen in a low lying ground, from this aspect sometimes the surroundings are more lighted and sometimes less.

Thus this process is repeated once a day. If you see those pictures which are taken during the movement of sun around the horizon which were taken from those places you will know the facts. When the sun is at zenith the people living near the poles call it day and they start working when it declines and reaching near the horizon it dims, they call it night and rest.

We should remember that when the sun sign reaches the horizon at the polar region the moderate regions which have equal days and nights, there is actual night. From the aspect of this calculation the night and day can be determined easily.