South Tangerang, FAH Online News - Fasting in the month of Ramadan is an obligation for all Muslims in the world, including people who live in countries where the majority are non-Muslims, so what is the time and purpose of fasting for our brothers and sisters who live in non-Muslim countries?. On Tuesday (10/03/2026) the Mutiara Ramadhan Program (VOLUME 2) was held by the Faculty of Adab and Humanities UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. discusses a theme “ Fasting in Non-Muslim Countries: Goals and Times” with Prof. Usep Abdul Matin, S.Ag., MA (Leiden), MA. (Duke), Ph.D shares spiritual insights while waiting for the time to break the fast in the holy month of Ramadan.

In his study, he conveyed that the purpose of fasting for people living in non-Muslim countries is to be devout, because whoever fasts will develop himself to be devout and the person who is devout is the person who does good deeds always feels that he is seen by Allah SWT. so he continues to improve himself to get the blessing of Allah SWT, as stated in Surah An-Nahl verse 128 and Al-Baqarah verse 183, the practice of fasting in non-Muslim countries for the purpose of achieving piety and for the purpose of achieving virtue appears in the symbol of tolerance, appears in the symbol of togetherness and appears in the symbol of humanity, for example, in Antwerp, the main port city in Belgium, there is an ifthar table tradition, namely breaking the fast on a 2 meter long table (Longes Ifthar Table) where those who provide the breaking food are Muslims and non-Muslims and those who enjoy it are also Muslims and non-Muslims. The practice of fasting towards piety and goodness exists in China, more precisely the Hui tribe, namely the Islamic tribe who have long lived in China, there the Hui tribe and Muslims in general, they do not focus on showing that this is the month of Ramadan, but they focus on maintaining their beliefs in everyday life by mingling, mingling with other humans, both Muslims and non-Muslims. such as sharing takjil with Muslims and non-Muslims and tarawih prayers are held from 09.00 -12.00 at night because after Isha they hold recitations and lectures, from the practice of fasting in non-Muslim countries there are important lessons that we can take, namely doing good deeds with fellow humans, a symbol of tolerance, togetherness and humanity”. He said in the study.

He also explained the time for fasting for our Muslim brothers who live in non-Muslim majority countries such as Romania, namely from 06.00 in the morning to 06.00 in the afternoon, Argentina around 9 hours 20 minutes of fasting time, third, Chile, namely from 05.31 in the morning until 15.00, Alaska Muslims only fast for 5 hours, some even shorter, namely the city of Murmansk only has 1 hour of fasting time, the reason for the difference in fasting time between one country and another is because the location of the sun in each country is different and the time is also affected. Because each hemisphere has its own orbit.

In ending the study, he concluded that the purpose of fasting is to be devout and devout, namely to do good deeds/good deeds, and for the time zone of fasting it is based on the circulation of the sun, so that we can feel the fast healthily and its benefits“ he said in his study today.

Author: Ahmad Daffa Rasyidi/ Kasih Nur/ Deny Saputra