Fasting Hours by Latitude
How long the fast runs — from Fajr to Maghrib — changes with latitude and the season. This tool shows that spread for any date, and where on Earth the ordinary times break down and a scholarly ruling is needed.
This whole page, in one pocket book
How fasting works at extreme latitudes, where day and night stop behaving normally — an A5 guide to the scholarly solutions.
- Why the fast is anchored to Fajr/Maghrib
- The high-latitude problem
- The scholarly solutions
- Practical guidance for high latitudes
Fasting length across latitudes
The high-latitude question
Allah tied the fast to real celestial events — the dawn and the sunset:
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيْلِ
"…eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the night."
Quran 2:187
In the far north and south, on some dates the sun never sets, or never dips low enough for a true dawn — so "from Fajr to the night" has no ordinary time. The Prophet ﷺ himself pointed to this kind of exception when he spoke of the days of the Dajjāl: the Companions asked, "would one day's prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year?" and he said, "No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer)" (Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 7189, Kitab al-Fitan). From that principle the scholars derived the methods for lands of persistent twilight or midnight sun:
- Nearest normal latitude — follow the Fajr/Maghrib times of the nearest place (around 45°) that still has a clear night and day.
- Makkah (or the Ḥaramayn) timing — take the fasting hours of Makkah as a fixed measure.
- Nearest ordinary day / mid-night estimation — use the times of the last date on which night and day were distinguishable, or divide the night proportionally.
How prayer times are set
The sun angles behind Fajr, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ — with the sun-path tool.
🌙Ramadan
The fasting month — its virtues, the last ten nights, and its rulings.
🌙Voluntary Fasting
The recommended nafl fasts across the year, and their reward.
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