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Ramadan is just around the corner! The holy month – which is the ninth in the Islamic calendar – is one in which Muslims around the world fast during the day time.
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Healthy Muslims are required to fast during the month of Ramadan from the time they reach puberty. Those who are exempt from the fast are those who are ill, travelling and women during their monthly periods.
Ramadan fasting hours are from dawn to sunset. Depending on where you are in the world, the number of fasting hours varies, according to the sunrise and sunset times. During these hours, Muslims abstain from food, drink and other physical needs for the entire month.
In the Middle East, the fasting time is closer to the average, due to the region’s proximity to the equator. The farther North a place is from the equator, the more the difference between night and day, leading to longer fasting hours. The closer you go to the South Pole, the duration becomes shorter.
There are some places in the world, such as Norway, where the sun does not set at all for months. These countries have religious rulings in place to follow the timings in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, or the nearest Muslim country.
These are the cities with the longest fasting time this year:
- Nuuk, Greenland – 18 hours
- Reykjavik, Iceland – 18 hours
- Helsinki, Finland – 17 hours
- Stockholm, Sweden – 17 hours
- Glasgow, Scotland – 17 hours
Here are some other cities:
- London, UK – 16 hours
- Islamabad, Pakistan – 14 hours
- Kabul, Afghanistan – 14 hours
- Tehran, Iran – 14 hours
- Baghdad, Iraq – 14 hours
- Beirut, Lebanon – 14 hours
- Damascus, Syria – 14 hours
- Cairo, Egypt – 14 hours
- Jerusalem – 14 hours
- Kuwait City, Kuwait – 14 hours
- New Delhi, India – 14 hours
- Hong Kong – 14 hours
- Dhaka, Bangladesh – 14 hours
- Muscat, Oman – 14 hours
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – 14 hours
- Doha, Qatar – 14 hours
- Abu Dhabi, UAE – 14 hours
- Aden, Yemen – 14 hours
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 13 hours
- Dakar, Senegal – 13 hours
- Abuja, Nigeria – 13 hours
- Colombo, Sri Lanka – 13 hours
- Bangkok, Thailand – 13 hours
- Khartoum, Sudan – 13 hours
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 13 hours
Here are the cities with the shortest fasting hours:
- Singapore: 13 hours
- Nairobi, Kenya: 13 hours
- Luanda, Angola: 13 hours
- Jakarta, Indonesia: 13 hours
- Brasilia, Brazil: 13 hours
- Harare, Zimbabwe: 13 hours
- Johannesburg, South Africa: 13 hours
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: 12 hours
- Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: 12 hours
- Cape Town, South Africa: 12 hours
- Montevideo, Uruguay: 12 hours
- Canberra, Australia: 12 hours
- Puerto Montt, Chile: 12 hours
- Christchurch, New Zealand: 12 hours
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