# How would somebody north of the Arctic Circle observe Ramadan?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 10, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179 "2009-02-10T04:22:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/1 "2009-02-10T04:22:52Z")
Observing Ramadan means no eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset for a whole month. What would happen if it fell during the spring or summer, when the sun is up 24 hours a day? Obviously you couldn’t survive without eating or drinking sometime during that month. And what would happen if it occurred during the fall or winter, when the sun isn’t up at all?
---
### Author:  [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/2 "2009-02-10T04:56:05Z")
I asked this question at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo a few years ago. The imam (is that his title? I don’t recall) told our group that there is some confusion, but that some use the schedule of the nearest location south of the Arctic Circle. [This site](http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/june02_index.php?l=2), seems to agree with this.
---
### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/3 "2009-02-10T05:13:32Z")
Islam has no central committe such as the episcopal body of the Anglican Communiaon or the Vatican, so there may be different ways to handle it, but I recall that when a Muslim astronaut went up, he had worked out with the leaders of his national council just how to handle the aspect of praying five times per day when he was orbiting the Earth every 80 minutes or so while continuing to face a “moving” Mecca.
My guess would be that something similar (such as noted by seodoa), would be arranged for a person on whm the sun never set , (or, alternatively, for whom it never rose if Ramadan occurred in an Arctic or Antarctic winter).
Found the reference: [A Muslim Astronaut’s Dilemma: How to Face Mecca From Space](http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2007/09/mecca_in_orbit)
[How does an Islamic astronaut face Mecca in orbit?](http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1010/p16s02-stss.html)
---
### Author:  [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/4 "2009-02-10T07:16:30Z")
I’m not north of the Arctic Circle, but I am at 60 degrees north, far enough that the sky never gets really dark for a period of time in the summer, and in a city with a number of mosques. The truth is a bit boring: each congregation decides for itself. Generally they choose to fast between the approximate hours of sunrise and sunset in a more moderate latitude. There are obvious religious reasons for choosing Mecca, for instance, or if most members of the mosque trace their ancestry to a particular country they might choose a city in that country. They do the same thing when Ramadan falls in the middle of winter, making the fasting time so short that it wouldn’t be much of a challenge.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/5 "2009-02-10T07:55:47Z")
Islam is actually a fairly reasonable religion about its practices. A devout Muslim is supposed to carry out the Five Pillars to the best of his ability in the circumstances he is in. For example, a Muslim who is a diabetic is not required to participate in the fast.
---
### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/6 "2009-02-10T12:11:34Z")
If you are inside the circle most likely you will be exempt. since you will be travelling (is there any permenently inhabited places inside the circle?)
---
### Author:  [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/7 "2009-02-10T12:50:39Z")
> [@AK84](#):
>
> If you are inside the circle most likely you will be exempt. since you will be travelling (is there any permenently inhabited places inside the circle?)
The arctic circle isn’t a frozen desert, [Murmansk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murmansk), [Kiruna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiruna) and [Narvik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narvik) are some of the towns north of it that first comes to mind.
---
### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/8 "2009-02-10T14:42:58Z")
In Canada, there’s [Inuvik](http://www.inuvik.ca/) and [Tuktoyaktuk](http://www.tuktoyaktuk.worldweb.com/).
---
### Author:  [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/9 "2009-02-10T19:02:04Z")
> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> In Canada, there’s [Inuvik](http://www.inuvik.ca/) and [Tuktoyaktuk](http://www.tuktoyaktuk.worldweb.com/).
Related to this, when I went to Inuvik, there were some Moroccans running a convinence store there. Didn’t think to ask them about Ramadan practice tho.
---
### Author:  [@satin\_doll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satin_doll)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/10 "2009-02-10T20:19:59Z")
Well,\*\*PONCH8, Ramadan typically occurs in the fall (ie November) when there are relatively few hours of daylight; the old method for determining sunrise and sunset was to hold a white and a black thread in the direction of the rising or setting sun, when the colour of the threads were distinguishable or indistinguishable, it was officially sunrise or sunset( I read this, I can’t verify it as true). It is never fully dark or daylight for 24 hours, so Ramadan COULD be observed. For a humurous take of the whole fasting/daylight thing, read Mordecai Richler’s “Solomon Gursky Was Here”. Hope this helps…satin doll
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/11 "2009-02-10T21:04:16Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Well,\*\*PONCH8, Ramadan typically occurs in the fall (ie November) when there are relatively few hours of daylight;
Ramadan doesn’t typically occur in any particular time of the year. The Islamic calendar is purely lunar, meaning that a year is defined as being exactly 12 lunar months. But 12 lunar months is not exactly the same as a solar year (what most of the world uses), so the Islamic calendar doesn’t stay in synch with the Western calendar, and thus Ramadan rotates all the way around the solar year on an approximately 30-year cycle.
---
### Author:  [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/12 "2009-02-10T22:02:03Z")
This reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago in _The New Yorker_. A Muslim on an airliner was asking the flight attendant, “Excuse me, miss, which way is east?”
---
### Author:  [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/13 "2009-02-11T00:08:44Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#):
>
> This reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago in _The New Yorker_. A Muslim on an airliner was asking the flight attendant, “Excuse me, miss, which way is east?”
Um … ha?
---
### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-somebody-north-of-the-arctic-circle-observe-ramadan/485179/14 "2009-02-11T18:53:55Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#):
>
> Um … ha?
I guess the joke is supposed to be that you should be able to know which direction you’re going when you’re in the middle of a flight (i.e., if you’re going from Houston to San Diego, you should know you’re heading west, and east would be toward the back of the plane.)