Arctic Muslims risk health during Ramadan

[The Straight Story]

Swedish Muslims north of the Arctic circle have long waited for and feared this summer. When the sun never sets, they have pondered how to observe Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast from sun up to sun down for a month.

"Kiruna is as high up as you get in Sweden, the sun never sets during this month," Ali Melhem, 45, who has lived in Kiruna for 24 years told The Local. As the fasting month is set by the moon, Ramadan usually moves about 10 days forward in the calender each year, which means this is the first summer it has proved a 24-hour dilemma for Melhem.

"When I first moved here, Ramadan was in the spring."

In attendance for the day when Ramadan would run smack bang into the near three-month stretch of never-ending sun, Shia Muslim Melhem has not remained idle in doing his research.

"My wife and I couldn't make that choice, so we've consulted mullahs from Iraq to Iran. They say we can wait to fast until the autumn," he said, adding that some Sunni Muslims in Kiruna have chosen to break their fast when the sun sets over Mecca as a solution to their dilemma. Ramadan this years started on July 9th and should last until August 7th.


http://www.thelocal.se/49004/20130711/

[cbayer]

1. OMG! I never thought of that.

That has got to be a problem in lots of northern areas. I'm glad they are offered some solutions.

I like it as close to the equator as I can get. I would not like to be in a place where the sun never set (or never rose) for a month at a time.

Thanks for posting this.

[Lordquinton]

2. They are allowed to not observe aspects of their religion

if they atone for it later. I had a Muslim co-worker explain it to me once when she just couldn't get her head cover on right so early in the morning, or couldn't get her morning prayer done. it's more of a philosophical aspect, did allha intend his religion spread to places where the sun never goes down? What about the opposite, where it never comes up? If they go through both extremes does it balance out?

[The Straight Story]

3. And what if they were in space

No idea how that would work out

[muxin]

5. Good Thinking :)

I suppose they would fast according to the time of their origin on earth if that's the case if I remember correctly, I heard an imam talked about this a while ago.

In Islam there are 3 sources of rule; The Quran, hadith (words and act of the prophet or things other people said and did that he agreed to) and ijma. For the cases that exist only in modern days that couldn't be found on the Quran and hadith, we use Ijma (fatwa from ulema or imam), but this fatwa cannot violate the basic rules set in the Quran or hadith.

[cbayer]

4. That's true for other groups as well.

I worked at a Jewish hospital that was mostly staffed by observant Jews. They made interesting accommodations for those that had to work on Friday night and Saturday. For example, the elevators were programmed to stop at every floor and run continuously so no one had to push the buttons.

Might seem silly to some, but it was a fairly easy accommodation that made a difference to a lot of people, and to those visiting.

[mr blur]

6. Evolution in action.

[cbayer]

7. Not sure what you mean by that.

Their ability to address this with some reasonable alternatives does seem very adaptive.

But I'm not sure that is where you were going.

[Act_of_Reparation]

8. Their ability to adapt largely depends on which clerics they consult

With no central authority on the matter, results may--and usually do--vary.

Consider Somalia, which is experiencing a renewed polio outbreak. While the country is being flooded with vaccines, they aren't being administered because there because the vaccines are oral, and this is Ramadan.

[cbayer]

9. Say what? They can't take the vaccines during times that they are not required

to fast? I haven't hear anything like that.

I think there may be some other reasons for the vaccines not being used, IIRC. I thought I read that the government was paranoid that there was a plan to exterminate populations with the vaccine. Paranoid to be sure, but it didn't have anything to do with religion.

[Act_of_Reparation]

10. It was NPR this afternoon

And, no, there is no "they can't do this or that". Because there's no central authority dictating orthopraxy, what people can or cannot do during Ramadan is largely dependent upon what their local clerics say. Children are being immunized in Yemen, regardless of the fast.

In the wider scope of things, there are some who are paranoid vaccines are a Western plot to kill Muslims... and there are also clerics who object to the administration of vaccines made from porcine gelatin, and that has very much to do with religion.

[cbayer]

11. You know, I just googled this and came up with zilch about kids not getting the

vaccine because of Ramadan.

In fact, what I found is that 5 new campaigns were just launched and the hold ups appear to be because of lack of security for health workers. Al-shabaab is responsible for spreading the false information about the vaccines, but it appears that parents are proceeding with vaccination anyway.

Obviously, a central authority might not have the knowledge to assess a local situation (like no sunset) and make adjustments. And so local clerics doing it is a problem how?