Discussion of the prayer time calendars of Muslim countries and their inaccuracy.
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The Shaykh : Now, there is a very large difference between one town and another, and even between one location in a country and another location in a different country.
This is something I have experienced myself. In my home, which I described to you earlier, located on a mountain in Amman, the rule is that we break our fast in Ramadan between ten and seven minutes before the adhan, all year round, whether it is the fast of Ramadan or a voluntary fast. Once, we were invited to a village on the road from Amman to Jerusalem called al-Na'ur. We sat waiting for iftar for the first time, and I was in Amman hearing the adhan that is broadcast on the radio exactly at sunset for the first time. The reason is that the sun sets earlier for us because we are in the mountains, whereas there is no mountain there, so the sunset coincided exactly with the adhan because it is like a plain.
Therefore, we said that the calendars do not take these elevations into account. You may see this if you remember, for example, if you are traveling before sunset and the sun is in your path, you might find that the sun has set in one place, then you drive your car and the sun is still visible. Why? Because when you saw it set, there was a high mountain in front of you, and when you saw it rise again, it was because there was low-lying land or something similar. So, the person who is in a place before the mountain, where the sun sets behind it, has entered night. But the person who is in front of it, with a plain ahead and the sun still up, it is not permissible for him to break his fast. And so the whole earth differs in elevation and depression. Thus, the current calendars do not observe these differences at all. Once, we went to the same town, al-Na'ur, in Ramadan, and we prayed Maghrib while we were entering the mosque, and the mu'adhdhin was calling the adhan, while I saw the sun still up. This is different from the situation in my town at my location. The adhan is the same adhan because the state's adhan is broadcast on the radio. So, when I am at my home, this adhan is called, as I said, between ten to seven minutes [before sunset], whereas I saw the adhan the first time there exactly at sunset, and that is the correct way.
Another time, I entered the mosque in the village of al-Na'ur and heard the adhan; it was the same adhan that is broadcast, and there was no specific mu'adhdhin; it was the adhan of Amman being broadcast. This is a village far from there, and the sun was in front of me after it had set. This is very strange disorder; they organized it with one system and linked it to one adhan, and in that is the invalidation of many acts of worship, such as fasting or prayer.
So, these matters, in reality, it is obligatory for the responsible parties, namely the Muslim scholars who have the authority to oversee and correct the worship of the people, to take them into account.
This is something I have experienced myself. In my home, which I described to you earlier, located on a mountain in Amman, the rule is that we break our fast in Ramadan between ten and seven minutes before the adhan, all year round, whether it is the fast of Ramadan or a voluntary fast. Once, we were invited to a village on the road from Amman to Jerusalem called al-Na'ur. We sat waiting for iftar for the first time, and I was in Amman hearing the adhan that is broadcast on the radio exactly at sunset for the first time. The reason is that the sun sets earlier for us because we are in the mountains, whereas there is no mountain there, so the sunset coincided exactly with the adhan because it is like a plain.
Therefore, we said that the calendars do not take these elevations into account. You may see this if you remember, for example, if you are traveling before sunset and the sun is in your path, you might find that the sun has set in one place, then you drive your car and the sun is still visible. Why? Because when you saw it set, there was a high mountain in front of you, and when you saw it rise again, it was because there was low-lying land or something similar. So, the person who is in a place before the mountain, where the sun sets behind it, has entered night. But the person who is in front of it, with a plain ahead and the sun still up, it is not permissible for him to break his fast. And so the whole earth differs in elevation and depression. Thus, the current calendars do not observe these differences at all. Once, we went to the same town, al-Na'ur, in Ramadan, and we prayed Maghrib while we were entering the mosque, and the mu'adhdhin was calling the adhan, while I saw the sun still up. This is different from the situation in my town at my location. The adhan is the same adhan because the state's adhan is broadcast on the radio. So, when I am at my home, this adhan is called, as I said, between ten to seven minutes [before sunset], whereas I saw the adhan the first time there exactly at sunset, and that is the correct way.
Another time, I entered the mosque in the village of al-Na'ur and heard the adhan; it was the same adhan that is broadcast, and there was no specific mu'adhdhin; it was the adhan of Amman being broadcast. This is a village far from there, and the sun was in front of me after it had set. This is very strange disorder; they organized it with one system and linked it to one adhan, and in that is the invalidation of many acts of worship, such as fasting or prayer.
So, these matters, in reality, it is obligatory for the responsible parties, namely the Muslim scholars who have the authority to oversee and correct the worship of the people, to take them into account.