Faizel Patel – 08/04/2021
With little less than a week before the blessed month of Ramadan begins, South Africa will be fasting between eleven and twelve hours a day.
This is in stark contrast to some other parts of the world where the fast lasts up to 21 plus hours.
Ramadan begins 10 to 12 days earlier each year because the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar “Hijri” calendar with months that are 29 to 30 days long.
The next time Ramadan will start around 13 April will be about 33 years from now, or the year 2054.
According to Al Jazeera, Muslims living in the world’s southernmost countries such as Chile or New Zealand will fast an average of 11 hours, Makkah between 14 and 15 hours, those living in northern countries such as Iceland or Norway will have an 18+ hour fast.
For Muslims living in the Northern Hemisphere, the number of fasting hours will be a bit shorter this year and will continue to decrease until 2032, which is the year Ramadan will fall during the winter solstice, the longest day of the Northern year.
0 Comments