A Gulf village sees the sun for only 3 hours.. How is its fasting in Ramadan?

Weather of Arabia - With the advent of the month of Ramadan, there is much talk about a village located in the Sultanate of Oman. It is rumored that its residents fast for only 3 hours, while the average fasting hours in most countries of the Arab region is approximately 15 hours per day, so what is the truth about that?

The village of "Wakan" is a small mountain village located in Wadi Mistal in the Wilayat of Nakhal in the Governorate of South Al Batinah, Oman.

The sun rises at about 11 am and sets at 2:30 pm, which led many to believe that fasting hours in the village do not exceed 3 hours.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Misnad, associate professor of geography at Qassim University, denied these sayings, justifying the matter by saying that a village or city is located at the bottom of the valley, or is surrounded by high mountains so that they do not see the sun except at specific hours of the day when it is close to the center of the sky.. This does not mean that the time of Their fasting depends on seeing the disk of the sun.

Dr. Al-Misnad added, "The time of fasting begins with the appearance of the true dawn, not the rising of the sun from above the tops of the mountains, and ends with its setting below the horizon, not behind the mountain."

The number of fasting hours in the village of "Wakan" in Ramadan 2023 will reach approximately 14 hours. Abstaining from fasting begins at 4:45 in the morning and breaking the fast at 6:29 in the evening. The reason is that some areas in the village are not exposed to sunlight except for three days. Only hours that the mountains block the sun from the village.

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