Refresher & Advanced · Worship Refresher

Ramadan and Prayer Adaptations

Explore rulings on fasting, prayer locations, and adaptations in unique situations.

4 questions · Hard · about 3 minutes

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4 questions, about 3 minutes.

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1. How should Muslims fast in a land where the sun does not set during Ramadan?

  • Estimate the fasting times using the nearest place where day and night can be distinguished. (correct answer)
  • Fast continuously until the sun finally sets weeks later.
  • Skip Ramadan fasting entirely.
  • Fast only a fixed personal number of hours without reference to nearby distinguishable times.

Why

The ruling differs between two situations. If a land has very long days but dawn and sunset are still distinguishable within a twenty-four-hour period, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, even if the night is short. But in a land where the sun does not set during summer or does not rise during winter, the people estimate prayer and fasting times based on the closest country where night and day, and the five prayer times, can be distinguished. Those unable to complete the fast because of serious hardship or likely harm may break the fast and make it up later.

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2. When may a Muslim offer an obligatory prayer inside a vehicle?

  • When he fears the prayer time will end and he cannot get out to pray on the ground. (correct answer)
  • Whenever he is travelling.
  • Whenever praying outside is inconvenient.
  • Whenever he can face the qiblah while seated.

Why

An obligatory prayer should normally be prayed standing, facing the qiblah, and on the ground when one is able. Praying inside a car, plane, train, or similar vehicle where one cannot stand or face the qiblah is only allowed for obligatory prayers when two conditions are met: the person fears the prayer time will end before reaching a place where he can pray properly, and it is not possible to get off and pray on the ground. If he can wait and still pray within the time, he should wait.

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3. Which places are normally forbidden for prayer?

  • Graveyards and bathrooms. (correct answer)
  • Any place outside a mosque.
  • Any place used during travel.
  • Any place where a person feels tired.

Why

The general rule is that the earth is a place of prayer, but graveyards and bathrooms are exceptions. Praying in a bathroom is normally not valid and is not allowed. However, in an extreme necessity, such as a new Muslim who cannot pray anywhere else without serious harm and cannot solve the issue by combining prayers or finding another place, the source allows praying there rather than missing the prayer. This is an exception, not the normal ruling.

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4. Does a dog merely passing through a place make that place unsuitable for prayer?

  • No, the mere passing of a dog does not make the place impure. (correct answer)
  • Yes, any place a dog enters becomes forbidden for prayer.
  • Yes, unless the dog is owned by a Muslim.
  • No, even if the dog urinates there and the impurity is known.

Why

A place is not made impure simply because dogs pass through it. The mere presence or movement of dogs through an area does not prevent prayer there. If actual impurity is known, such as urine in a specific place according to the applicable purification rulings, then that impurity must be avoided or cleaned. But general uncertainty or the fact that dogs pass by does not make the place forbidden for prayer.

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A note on these answers

These questions are for learning and self-testing. Explanations are drawn from the sources linked on each question and are not a fatwa. For a ruling on your own circumstances, please consult a qualified scholar.

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