World's Abridged Fasting, Muslims In Murmansk Only Fast For 1 Hour

JAKARTA - Each region in the world has different fasting durations, depending on the length of the day in that place. In general, Muslims in various countries fast for a dozen hours every day.

However, there are certain areas that have a much shorter or longer fasting duration than other regions. The region is in Murmansk, Russia. Muslims in Murmansk only fast for about an hour.

The difference in the duration of fasting is influenced by the geographical location of an area. The longer the day, the longer a person has to endure hunger and thirst.

On the other hand, if the afternoon is very short, then the duration of fasting will be shorter. In comparison, in Indonesia, the average duration of fasting ranges from 13 to 13.5 hours. In the month of Ramadan in 2025, for example, the Imsak time in Indonesia is estimated to fall at 04.28 WIB, while the maghrib time is at 18.15 WIB.

Meanwhile, Muslims in Murmansk have a very different experience. They only fast for one hour, because the region experiences a natural phenomenon called polar night or polar night when winter arrives.

This phenomenon occurs because of the location of Murmansk near the Arctic, so that within a certain period, the sun does not rise at all for days to months.

Especially in December, Murmansk experienced a pole night for a full month, causing the duration of the day to be very short. As a result, the time between dawn and sunset becomes very close, which also has an impact on fasting time.

This unique experience was shared by a tour guide named Lalu Satria Malaca. He uploaded his video on his personal Instagram account. Satria shared her experience of fasting for an hour in Murmansk, Russia.

"Today I'm fasting, but I don't want to show off my fast. I want to show off I fast for just one hour. So it was an hour ago, now it's breaking," said Satria, quoted by VOI from the Instagram account @lusatriamalaca on Wednesday, March 5, 2035.

He explained that he had just eaten suhoor at around 12 pm local time. Only one hour later, the maghrib time arrives, which means he is allowed to break the fast.

"This is already Maghrib, yes. It's only been 12 o'clock. At dawn and Maghrib it's this close," he added.

On an occasion while guiding tourists from Indonesia, Satria also announced that the time of prayer at Murmansk could be very unique.

Because the duration of the afternoon is very short, there are moments where three prayer times, namely dawn, sunset, and isya, are almost the same time.

"Okay ladies, for those who are Muslim, now it has entered the dawn prayer time, Maghrib, and isya at the same time," he explained to the tourists.

The upload was flooded with responses from Indonesian netizens. Knowing this, they wanted to move to Murmansk to fast for 1 hour.

"O Allah, I really want to pay my fasting debt," commented the netizen.

"I think if you are there, you will be diligent in fasting the sunnah," wrote another netizen.

"If I go there, I think I'm very diligent in worship." said another netizen.