Message #15496

[Zainab_M]

That's very wisely put brother.  MashAllah.  Unfortunately the AI and WI crowd is substantially devoid of common sense plus their obduracy makes them a very pathetic lot.  I doubt if they will follow your illuminated path of thoughts.  Like Sis Ruhi said, the minds of these uneducated creatures is plagued with lethargy and lack of will-power. 
 
The standard issue raised by the same lot is how can Muslims pray and fast in a Arctic regions where the sun doesn't show up for 6 months and then doesn't disappear for the next 6 months.

To answer this simple question (which they may consider tough), only focus on why Muslims are commanded to pray and fast?  The obligation to pray five times each day at different timings is not for the purpose of following the sun nor the moon nor for observing the clock. The purpose of five daily prayers at fixed times spread across each day is to think of Allah and maintain contact with Him in a balanced way throughout every single day.  That can be done no matter where one lives.  If someone is living in the North or South pole, they simply need to keep aside a few minutes for prayers every 2 to 3 hours daily.  The existence of a clock in modern times will further help to keep the count of 5 prayers a day.  In other words, select the prayer timings for remembrance of Allah which need not be according to the positioning of the sun nor the moon.

Similar common sense is required for fasting.  In peak winter season with short days, average fasting hours in North America and Europe are 8, 9 or 10 hours.  In peak summer season it's 17, 18 or 19 hours.  If someone living in the arctic regions wants to fast, let them choose a flat average duration for both seasons, example 8.5 hours throughout winter and 17.5 hours throughout summer.  As simple as that.  It goes without saying that one doesn't need to get fixated and fret on these different conditions in the Arctic regions.  Such differences are the will and decision of Allah.  We need to use our common sense.