This year’s Ramadan fasting will be one of the longest for the believers in BiH. According to the takwim of the Riyasat of the Islamic Community in BiH, the longest days of fasting this year will be June 19, 20 and 21, i.e. the 14th, 15th and 16th day of Ramadan. In those days, believers will be fasting for up to 18 hours and 23 minutes.
On these days, Sahur will start at 02:21 am in Srebrenica in the east of the country, at 02:26 am in Sarajevo, and at 02:31 am in the far northwest of the country, in Velika Kladuša. Iftar time on those days is 8:36 pm in Srebrenica, 8:54 pm in Sarajevo and 8:54 pm in Velika Kladuša. Isha’a prayer and the Tarawih prayer will be prayed at 10:43 pm in Srebrenica, 10:45 pm in Sarajevo and 11 pm in Velika Kladuša.
The fasting will be the longest for the citizens of Velika Kladuša on the 14th day of Ramadan, when they will fast for 18 hours and 23 minutes. Time between Maghrib prayer and Fajr prayer will amount to only 5 hours and 37 minutes.
The shortest day for fasting will be the first day of Ramadan, when believers will be fasting for around 18 hours and 10 minutes, or even less in some places. However, given that this Ramadan and the Ramadan next year come in the time when days in the year are the longest, the fluctuations in the length of fasting are negligible.
On global level, Muslims of Australia will be fasting for the shortest period of time, for about 12 hours and 20 minutes. Length of fasting at the Arabian Peninsula will be between 15.5 and 16 hours, while fasting throughout Europe will last for 18 to 19 hours. The fasting period is traditionally the longest in the Scandinavian countries. Thus, Muslims in Norway will be fasting for around 20 hours and 45 minutes this year and Muslims in Sweden and Iceland for as much as 22 hours.
The Islamic calendar is lunar and lasts for 354 or 355 days and is ten days shorter than the solar one. The use of lunar calendar is especially significant for the month of Ramadan.
When the calendar used would be lunar, Muslims who live in one hemisphere would always have an opportunity to fast in the colder and automatically shorter days, while those who live in the other hemisphere would fast in hot and longer days for their entire lives.
(Source: klix.ba/photo: fokus.ba)
