Sunspot Timings: The Easiest and Hardest Places to Observe Ramadan
In Australia Muslims will have to fast for less than 12 hours because Ramadan falls in the middle of winter, but in Iceland and Finland the fasting day can last for more than 21 hours.
This year's Ramadan started on Thursday 18th of June and millions of Muslims around the world fast from first light to sunset.
The month long festival is an opportunity for many Muslims to reconnect with their faith and re-charge their spirituality. Fasting is a key part of that, a feat of endurance and self control that draws them closer to God.
But not all of them face the same challenge.
Every country - and even every city - in the world has its own unique Ramadan timetable based on what time the sun rises and sets.
They are called ‘sunspot’ timings and they are keenly discussed in the days leading up to Ramadan. They also vary from year to year as the start and finish dates for Ramadan change depending on the lunar calendar.
In Australia, the month long festival will take place in the middle of winter. That means Muslims living there have a relatively easy task.
In Sydney the fast will last for just 11 hours and 24 minutes - from sunrise at 5.29am to sunset at 16.53pm - shorter than anywhere else on the planet.
By comparison Muslims living in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, where the summer sun hardly sets, face the daunting prospect of fasting for 21 hours and 57 minutes each day, from 2.03am until midnight.
Muslims living in Nigeria, have a relatively easier task compared to the latter. They will be required to fast for about 13 hours from about 5.00am to 6.52pm.
In countries where the days last longest, such as Iceland and Finland, fasting can be an truly exhausting.
Shah Jalal Miah Masud lives in the Finnish town of Rovaniemi on the edge of the Arctic circle, 500 miles north of the capital Helsinki. The summer is effectively one unended day.
"It doesn’t get dark," he says. "It always looks like the same, the sun is always on the horizon."
He admits abstaining from food and drink for such long periods leaves him tired and hungry, but nonetheless he says it is a pleasure for him to observe Ramadan during the long days.
Not everyone is able to fast for that long, so some scholars recommend a different approach. In some countries, if the fasting day lasts longer than 18 hours Muslims can use the times in Mecca.
The holy city in Saudi Arabia is close to the equator and therefore less susceptible to seasonal fluctuations in the length of day. This year the fasting day is a more manageable 15 hours and 47 minutes.
Nafisa Yeasmin, a researcher at the University of Lapland, is one of those who chose to follow the Mecca timetable with her husband and two children. However, it is not an easy decision.
"It was very difficult to fast for 20 hours because in Bangladesh we are used to 12 hours daytime and 12 hours night-time," she says.
"Then I thought, not any more. I have to follow Mecca’s timetable. But I’m a little bit worried whether Allah will accept it or not."
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| After the Sun Sets on Istanbul © Matthias Rhomberg |
The month long festival is an opportunity for many Muslims to reconnect with their faith and re-charge their spirituality. Fasting is a key part of that, a feat of endurance and self control that draws them closer to God.
But not all of them face the same challenge.
Every country - and even every city - in the world has its own unique Ramadan timetable based on what time the sun rises and sets.
They are called ‘sunspot’ timings and they are keenly discussed in the days leading up to Ramadan. They also vary from year to year as the start and finish dates for Ramadan change depending on the lunar calendar.
In Australia, the month long festival will take place in the middle of winter. That means Muslims living there have a relatively easy task.
In Sydney the fast will last for just 11 hours and 24 minutes - from sunrise at 5.29am to sunset at 16.53pm - shorter than anywhere else on the planet.
By comparison Muslims living in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, where the summer sun hardly sets, face the daunting prospect of fasting for 21 hours and 57 minutes each day, from 2.03am until midnight.
Muslims living in Nigeria, have a relatively easier task compared to the latter. They will be required to fast for about 13 hours from about 5.00am to 6.52pm.
In countries where the days last longest, such as Iceland and Finland, fasting can be an truly exhausting.
Shah Jalal Miah Masud lives in the Finnish town of Rovaniemi on the edge of the Arctic circle, 500 miles north of the capital Helsinki. The summer is effectively one unended day.
"It doesn’t get dark," he says. "It always looks like the same, the sun is always on the horizon."
He admits abstaining from food and drink for such long periods leaves him tired and hungry, but nonetheless he says it is a pleasure for him to observe Ramadan during the long days.
Not everyone is able to fast for that long, so some scholars recommend a different approach. In some countries, if the fasting day lasts longer than 18 hours Muslims can use the times in Mecca.
The holy city in Saudi Arabia is close to the equator and therefore less susceptible to seasonal fluctuations in the length of day. This year the fasting day is a more manageable 15 hours and 47 minutes.
Nafisa Yeasmin, a researcher at the University of Lapland, is one of those who chose to follow the Mecca timetable with her husband and two children. However, it is not an easy decision.
"It was very difficult to fast for 20 hours because in Bangladesh we are used to 12 hours daytime and 12 hours night-time," she says.
"Then I thought, not any more. I have to follow Mecca’s timetable. But I’m a little bit worried whether Allah will accept it or not."
Sunspot Timings: The Easiest and Hardest Places to Observe Ramadan
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