[driftless2]

I just read a column by John Derbyshire about Ramadan in Sweden. It seems the Muslims are perturbed by the fact the sun shines almost all day that far north, and they're not supposed to eat while the sun is shining.

Derbyshire suggested it was Allah's way of telling Muslims they shouldn't be living that far north.

[Farmer Dean]

Wait until the Swedes get tired of all the crime and tell the Muslims they shouldn’t be living that far north.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I hadn't ever thought of that.

Midnight sun in Kiruna, Sweden

In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately April 19 to August 23.

Even as far south as Stockholm, sunset today was approx. 10:00 PM and sunrise tomorrow will be approx. 3:30 AM --- that's approx 18 1/2 daylight hours, and 5 1/2 nighttime hours.

This year Ramadan is approximately June 18 - July 17 (I say approx. because this is a lunar month and depends on the actual sighting of the moon.) So in swaths of northern Europe, you could go through the entire month of Ramadan with only 0 to 5 after-sunset hours (deep in the middle of the night) when you would be permitted to eat.

Which is to say, Happy Ramadan! --- if you're really, really into fasting.

[ebshumidors]

Welfare trumps Ramadan.

[arthurus]

The Moslems should invoke shariah and require that the sun shine for no more than 12 hours during Ramadan. Truly, though, it is a signal from Allah that Moslems should not be resident in these latitudes. To a Moslem there is no “cause and effect.” Everything is directly willed by Allah and this, too is Allah’s will and good moslems should avoid the place.