Now the point is that whatever you do by way of deviation from the normal, it must be done on some principle. It can’t be left to anybody’s choice. Otherwise you will be interfering with the dictates of Islam and so many new Islams would come into being. So we must first find the underlying principle and then look for Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa’s direction on these points. If you find these two things clearly, then there is no point of you making your own inferences apart from where you are permitted to make your inferences. In this particular case, I’ll explain. According to the Holy Quran, certain conditions are to be fulfilled for the beginning of fast as well as the ending of fast. And those conditions have been clearly laid down in the Holy Quran. If an abnormality is observed in certain regions of earth where those conditions are not apparent to the eye or have changed completely, that is the place where we must look for some different way of approaching. Otherwise, where the conditions have been fulfilled clearly, you have no right to interfere. Where the conditions are not fulfilled, what should we do? That is the question. Only in that region. There, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa s.a.w. has clearly laid down the rules to follow.
In fact, he was told 1400 years ago or 1400 some years ago that the future man would discover areas where the days can be extended even to 6 months. That is the geographical theoretical pole, the centre of that pole. But he didn’t know what he was being told. It was a surprising thing. What he was revealed by Allah was that at the time of Dajjal, that is the Antichrist, when he would appear, some days would be extended to 6 months. So when he mentioned it to Sahaba, neither he understood the import of this nor Sahaba, that is his companions, could understand because it was a different time of which the Ilham was speaking. They asked, or one of them asked, Ya Rasulullah, what would happen to our prayers? How can we say our prayers during that long day of 6 months? Shall we say our prayers 5 times during that 6 month period? Because a 24 hour day comprises only 5 prayers.
So Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa s.a.w. said, no. You must judge your days according to the normal days. That is, every 24 hours, you will have to make arrangements for your own prayers so that by the passage of every 24 hours, you have 5 prayers. So that gives us a thumb rule, where we should interfere and how. If conditions are not applicable, then we can judge. And judge according to the normal days. And make our own formula as to how we should perform either Namaz or Raza. But not otherwise. If the conditions here are fulfilled, you have no right to interfere.
