Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — As the fasting month of Ramadan is entering its latter half, worshippers have to cope with longer fasting hours and hotter temperatures.

The latter part of Ramadan is also expected to witness harsh weather conditions as summer temperatures are soaring in the Kingdom with intense heat waves in many parts of the country, especially in the Northern Border and Eastern provinces.

A hotter summer is expected this year compared to last year, according to weather experts. Remaining hydrated become a pressing problem for the faithful, especially the laborers who work outdoors under the hot sun.

Also the duration of fasting has been increasing gradually. In Jeddah it was 14 hours 33 minutes in the beginning of the month but it is extending further as days pass.

Ramadan fasting is based on real time of the place and not based on the standard time.

Most of the regions and governorates in the Kingdom have an average of 15 hours of fasting. Places in higher latitudes have longer days.

Parts of Tabuk and the Northern Border Province, and the southern provinces have a significant difference in time for breaking the fast.

Like last year, people of Haql in Tabuk province, approximately 1,225 km from Jeddah and situated on the coast of Aqaba bordering Jordan, are the last to break the fast in the Kingdom.

“We are the last people in the Kingdom to break the fast,” Zafar Nadvi, a longtime resident of Haql, told Saudi Gazette. Nadvi is associated with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance and has helped prepare prayer calendar for the Haql area.

People of Turaif, a Northern Border Province city about 1,600 kilometers away from Jeddah on the Kingdom's border with Jordan, is also among the last ones to break the fast in the Kingdom.

“We are among the last people to break the fast in Kingdom,” Mohammed Moqeem, an Indian expatriate working in Northern Railway train project site near Turaif, told Saudi Gazette.

The fasting time in the southern parts of the Kingdom is less compared with the rest of the Saudi provinces.

It is interesting to note that even in Taif governorate, there is a difference between the hill station of Hada and Taif city in the time for breaking fast.