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فَالِقُ الۡاِصۡبَاحِۚ وَ جَعَلَ الَّيۡلَ سَكَنًا وَّالشَّمۡسَ وَالۡقَمَرَ حُسۡبَانًا ؕ ذٰلِكَ تَقۡدِيۡرُ الۡعَزِيۡزِ الۡعَلِيۡمِ ٩٦
He causes the dawn to break, and has made the night for rest and ˹made˺ the sun and the moon ˹to travel˺ with precision. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing.
[Al-Quran 6:96, Translation: Dr Mustafa Khattab]
Allah causes the dawn to break, indicated by the white thread of day distinct from the black thread of night, even though its very dark, and those not observing the eastern horizon wouldn't know for a while that morning has already commenced.
اِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللّٰهُ الَّذِىۡ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضَ فِىۡ سِتَّةِ اَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسۡتَوٰى عَلَى الۡعَرۡشِ يُغۡشِى الَّيۡلَ النَّهَارَ يَطۡلُبُهٗ حَثِيۡثًا ۙ وَّالشَّمۡسَ وَالۡقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُوۡمَ مُسَخَّرٰتٍۢ بِاَمۡرِهٖ ؕ اَلَا لَـهُ الۡخَـلۡقُ وَالۡاَمۡرُ ؕ تَبٰرَكَ اللّٰهُ رَبُّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ ٥٤
Indeed your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then established Himself on the Throne. He makes the day and night overlap in rapid succession. He created the sun, the moon, and the stars—all subjected by His command. The creation and the command belong to Him ˹alone˺. Blessed is Allah—Lord of all worlds!
[Al-Quran 7:54, Translation: Dr Mustafa Khattab]
The precision with which night and day overlap and follow each other has enabled humans to calculate time with precision, in advance, for the whole year.
اِنَّ فِى اخۡتِلَافِ الَّيۡلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمَا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ لَاٰيٰتٍ لِّـقَوۡمٍ يَّتَّقُوۡنَ ٦
Surely in the alternation of the day and the night, and in all that Allah has created in the heavens and the earth, there are truly signs for those mindful ˹of Him˺.
[Al-Quran 10:6, Translation: Dr Mustafa Khattab]
Isn't it amazing how punctual the night and day are, each overlapping and overtaking the other with such precision, without a moment's delay, that we can sync our clocks with it.
Why is it important to understand the Quranic facts about natural phenomenon which help clarify our concepts and calculations of time? Prayer times depend on observation of natural phenomena. Moreover, in the future, we have been informed that time will dilate. A day will be equal to a year. Will we pray only five times that year, that is once every two months? According to this excerpt, full Hadith quoted below, attributed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ , when the Companions رَّضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ heard about it, they asked about the prayers. They were instructed to estimate and maintain the prayers:
. قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا لُبْثُهُ فِي الأَرْضِ قَالَ " أَرْبَعُونَ يَوْمًا يَوْمٌ كَسَنَةٍ وَيَوْمٌ كَشَهْرٍ وَيَوْمٌ كَجُمُعَةٍ وَسَائِرُ أَيَّامِهِ كَأَيَّامِكُمْ " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي كَسَنَةٍ تَكْفِينَا فِيهِ صَلاَةُ يَوْمٍ قَالَ " فَاقْدُرُوا لَهُ قَدْرًا " .
We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, how long will he stay on earth?' He said: 'Forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of his days like your days.' We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, on that day which is like a year, will the prayers of one day suffice us?' He said: 'Make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer).'
[Excerpt from Sunan Ibn Majah 4075]
How then do we estimate the time of prayers? Presently, we calculate the time of the obligatory five prayers according to the break of dawn (fajr), the beginning of the decline of the sun immediately after it has passed overhead (zuhr), when the shadow of an object equals its height or is twice as long (asr), sunset (magrib) and when the night completely covers the red, or even the white twilight (isha).
So, how do we then estimate the time of prayers, when the size of a day increases from the present twenty-four hour day, three hundred and sixty-five days in a solar year, that we are used to? Are there any examples?
Our polar regions experience a day and night equalling one year. That is, half the year the Sun is rising and slowly spiralling up towards its highest point in the sky, and then spirals down back towards the horizon, to eventually disappear below the horizon at the equinox, for six months, till the next equinox. When it is night at the North Pole, it is daytime at the South Pole, and when it is night at the South Pole, it is daytime at the North Pole.
Muslims living in or near the polar regions thus have been contemplating, calculating and estimating prayer times. For example:
https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/21730/polar-prayer-times-fasting
https://www.islam21c.com/ramadan-1443/a-modern-misunderstanding-of-fajr/
https://slife.org/salah-in-polar-regions/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_Arctic
Moreover, some of the People of the Book, i.e. Jews and Christians, also live north of the Arctic Circle.
