As Ramadan Approaches, UK Muslims Discuss Fasting Hours

Ramadan starts this week, very close to the longest day of the year, and a debate that arises from time to time has cropped up again, as one British Muslim scholar suggests following Mecca times for Ramadan in northern Europe, where the days can be extremely long in summer. Something similar is practiced by Muslims north of the Arctic circle, where the sun never sets in high summer, and was also the case for the Saudi astronaut aboard the space shuttle some years back, when sunsets were about 90 minutes apart in orbit.