Rabat – Much like how the starting dates for Ramadan differ each year from country to country, differing sunrise and sunset times around the globe cause fasting times to vary wildly around the world each holy month.
One example is Scandinavian countries, and other regions close to the Arctic circle, which have notoriously long days, with fasts reaching an excruciating 20 hours.
Fortunately , various authorities have ruled that the people living in these regions can instead follow the time for Mecca’s fast, as the local times can be seen as unreasonably exhausting.
The exceptional case of such regions aside, what are the longest times that people do actually fast around the world?
Various reports this year are pointing towards Reykjavik in Iceland as the place with the longest fast times for 2022, with residents expected to abstain from food and drinks for about 17 hours each day.
Various cities around Europe such as Lisbon, Paris, and London are also expected to have fasts of around 16 hours a day.
In Reykjavik’s case, it seems most Islamic authorities have deemed the duration to not be punishing enough to warrant following other cities’ times, although it is certainly demanding.
As for the shortest times this year, all signs are pointing to the Southern hemisphere, where many residents will enjoy relatively easy and short fasting times.
South Africa’s Johannesburg and Cape Town, Argentina’s Buenos Aires, and New Zealand’s Christchurch are all expected to have a forgiving day that lasts from 11 to 12 hours.
Fasting days are becoming shorter than usual lately, as the holy month comes about two weeks earlier each year.
That means that the month has slowly been shifting to the spring months, which have shorter days than the summer. The cooler weather in a large chunk of the world also helps make the fast a lot easier.
In Morocco, the fast is expected to last around 14 hours, which seems to be the average for a lot of the world.
Ramadan in Morocco will start on Sunday April 3, as per yesterday’s announcement from The Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Other countries, including Saudi Arabia, have started their fast today, after observing the crescent yesterday.
Each year during Ramadan, Muslims are expected to abstain from food and drinks, as well as various other activities in what is considered a main pillar of the religion.
The month is also considered the holiest in the year.
Read Also: Why Muslims Fast During Ramadan
