There Is a Problem Determining the Times of Dawn and Sunset, Especially for Those — Jurisprudential Answers — Miscellaneous Issues, Vol. 2
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Question 4
There is a problem determining the times of dawn and sunset, especially for those living in northern European countries. I will summarize the problems we face in several points: 1. Observing dawn and sunset is difficult because of the weather conditions. 2. Even if dawn and sunset are observed on one day, it is difficult to rely on that observation for the next day because the time changes every day—for example, increasing or decreasing by three minutes depending on the season. 3. We used to rely on the times published on the website of the Ahl al-Bayt Assembly, which belongs to some Shi'a, but we found large discrepancies, especially when the clocks change between summer and winter time. Sometimes they change the noon time but do not change the sunset time, or the reverse, and there are other major differences, so I do not trust their times. 4. Since it is difficult for us to determine sunset and dawn, may we rely on the sunrise and sunset times published in ordinary newspapers, even though the newspapers are foreign and I do not know how they calculate them? If we rely on the published sunrise time, we can calculate ninety minutes before it, but what should we do about sunset? 5. The difference between winter and summer is very great. In summer the length of the day is almost twenty-two and a quarter hours. The problem arises in the blessed month of Ramadan, when the period between breaking the fast and beginning abstention is no more than two hours. Complete darkness does not occur, and sometimes the sky remains bright.
Ahmed al-Hasan Response:
I ask God to grant you success and make your steps firm. You must know that God does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. God will not hold you accountable for an unintentional delay or advance in the time of prayer, breaking the fast, or beginning abstention if you have done everything within your ability to know the correct time according to reality. God, the Exalted, says: 'God does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. It will have what it has earned, and against it will be what it has earned. Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake. Our Lord, do not place upon us a burden as You placed upon those before us. Our Lord, do not burden us with what we have no strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy upon us. You are our Master, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people' (Quran 2:286). To know the times of sunrise and sunset, you may rely on publications of scientific astronomical centers. Newspapers in a country usually rely on a scientific astronomical center in that country, and you can ask them about the source of their information. You may rely on those times to know sunrise and sunset. A bright sky after sunset does not affect the fact that the time is night even if there is no darkness. The presence of light does not determine day and night for you; rather, day and night are determined according to sunset and sunrise, and these are sufficient for you to know the times of prayer, breaking the fast, and beginning abstention during some parts of the year. I previously answered a related question. After reading it carefully, you may ask about anything in the answer that remains unclear, and you may also ask about anything else that you do not find in it. The previous question and answer were: 'Q10: How is prayer performed at the poles and in places where the sun does not rise for a period of time, or where it rises for a period without setting, or where it rises only for a short period, and so on? A: Regarding prayer in the places mentioned: if there are clearly distinguishable, complete and genuine sunrise and sunset, with darkness, light, and a true dawn, then one acts according to them as explained in The Laws of Islam. If sunrise and sunset can be distinguished but darkness and light—that is, the true dawn before sunrise—cannot be distinguished, then the time for the sunset prayer is sunset, and the time for the dawn prayer extends from one and a half hours before sunrise until sunrise. This applies if the time of night, or the sun's absence, is more than one and a half hours. If the time of night, or the sun's absence, is one and a half hours or less, then the time for the dawn prayer extends from after sunset plus the time sufficient to perform the sunset and night prayers until before sunrise. The time for beginning the fast extends until immediately before sunrise, even by a moment, whether the sun is absent for one hour or ten hours. If sunrise and sunset cannot be distinguished, then there is either continuous night or continuous day for twenty-four hours. In either case, the time is divided into twelve hours of day and twelve hours of night. As for how the boundaries of each twelve hours are determined: during continuous daylight, the person can determine the middle of the day from the highest point reached by the sun's disk during that day. That point is midday, the midpoint of the twelve hours. If there is continuous night and no sunrise, the time of greatest brightness is midday, the midpoint of the twelve hours. This midday is the time of zawal, at which the noon and afternoon prayers are performed. The time for the dawn prayer extends from one and a half hours before the assumed sunrise until the assumed sunrise. The sunset prayer is performed at the assumed sunset. Fasting is based on the times of dawn and sunset, or the times of the dawn prayer and sunset prayer.' (Jurisprudential Answers — Book of Prayer, Question 10).
published translation. Source [1]
Source: الأجوبة الفقهية (مسائل متفرقة - ج2); Question 4; Page Not available; FIQH-MISC-V2-Q004. View Arabic source · Open the original Arabic source ↗
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References
- ↑ السيد أحمد الحسن. الأجوبة الفقهية (مسائل متفرقة - ج2). Question 4; Page Not available. FIQH-MISC-V2-Q004. View Arabic source
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الأجوبة الفقهية (مسائل متفرقة - ج2) — السيد أحمد الحسن. Question: 4. Page: Not available. FIQH-MISC-V2-Q004. https://ahmedalhasan.org/ar/Library/BookContent/98
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"id": "FIQH-MISC-V2-Q004",
"book_title_ar": "الأجوبة الفقهية (مسائل متفرقة - ج2)",
"author": "السيد أحمد الحسن",
"question_number": 4,
"page_number": null,
"source_url": "https://ahmedalhasan.org/ar/Library/BookContent/98",
"source_language": "ar"
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