Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Earlier I had I asked a you a question regarding timing of Namaz and Fasting. That is in Quran it is written that you hve to follow sunrise and sunset for the same. So I had asked that if a muslim is living in Norway where sun does not rise or set for six months then what do you do? You had replied that in that case you follow either timing of mecca or near by country. So I want to ask why Quran has not covered such situation? Or is it that Quranic guidance is only for certain territory.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Is the guidance of guidance for certain countries only?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The Holy Quran was revealed by the All Knowing, All Wise Allah, for the guidance of all mankind. Everything that concerns the issue of guidance, belief, faith, imaan, tawheed, shirk, etc. is explained in detail in this Glorious Book. Many other topics like medicine, history, science, astronomy, etc. are touched, but not explained in detail. And many issues, which a human being can learn himself by experience or by experimenting, and do not have a bearing on guidance, might not be touched at all. In many instances, the Quran only gave commands in general terms. For example, Allah commands the believers in the Quran to ‘establish prayer’, but does not give the exact details of how to pray. These were taught to the believers by the Prophet of Allah (saws). Also the command to perform ‘hajj’. Again, the details are not given, but was practically done and taught to the believers by the Prophet (saws).

For specific issues, like how to calculate and ascertain the time of prayers in a country where the sun does not rise or set for a period of months at a stretch, and where the Quran and Sunnah are silent; Islam has allowed the believers to use their intelligence and commonsense and make a decision by consultation amongst the scholars of deen.

Many issues arose in the modern world, which were non-existent during the time of the Revelation of the Quran; like electricity, cars, airplanes, modern medicines, televisions, movies, cameras, modern methods of contraception, genetics, clonings, etc. The scholars of Islam consulted together about these issues, and formed a decision in light of the guidance of the Quran and Sunnah.

The guidance of the Quran is not restricted to a particular time or a certain territory. It is a perfect message of guidance for all of mankind, of all times, and in all places.

Allah says in Chapter 2, Surah Baqarah aayat 185:"Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down: this Book is a perfect guidance for mankind and consists of CLEAR teachings which show the right way and are a Criterion of the Truth and falsehood."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan