I wish to ask you about the problem of
praying ‘Isha and Fajr in the region of Newcastle in Britain. The Muslims here in
Newcastle have a big problem with defining the right time for Fajr and ‘Isha’
prayers, and the time for starting the fast, because the light reaches the surface of the
earth before the sun rises, and stays there after it has set, for a long time, and
sometimes this light remains there for the entire night. The astronomers here have divided
this period when the light appears until the sun rises, and when remains after sunset
until it disappears, into three:
- when the intensity of the light is such that a person is able to do some
work - when the light is such that a person cannot do any work that needs light
- total darkness.
- The question here is: how do we define the beginning of the time for
Fajr and ‘Isha’ and for starting to fast in the light of the times given by
these astronomers’ calculations?
