Think about it, Muslim friends. What if one clear verse from the Quran shows that Allah’s rules simply don’t work for the whole world He supposedly created? No need for long debates. Just look at this one ayat about Ramzan fasting. It started with a strict rule because of the desires of the Prophet’s own companions — and then the rule changed. But the final ayat creates a huge problem in places like Arctic Norway. Let’s walk through it step by step with the exact references.
In the early days of Islam, eating, drinking, and sex became haram right after you slept
Tafsir Ibn Abbas on Quran 2:187
(Urdu as in the classical source):
“و اور امام احمد ؒ ، ابن جریر ؒ اور ابن ابی حاتم ؒ نے عبداللہ بن کعب ؒ کے ذریعہ سے کعب بن مالک سے روایت کی ہے کہ شروع میں لوگوں میں سے جب کوئی روزہ رکھتا تھا اور پھر شام کو وہ سوجایا کرتا تھا تو اس پر کھانا پینا اور عورتیں، سب چیزیں حرام ہوجایا کرتی تھیں جب تک کہ اگلے دن روزہ افطار کرلے، چناچہ ایک دن رات کو حضرت عمر فاروق ؓ رسول اکرم ﷺ سے بات چیت کرنے کے بعد اپنے گھر گئے اور اپنی بیوی سے صحبت کرنا چاہی وہ بولیں کہ وہ تو سو چکی ہیں، حضرت عمر ؓ نے فرمایا کہ میں تو ابھی تک نہیں سویا غرض کہ حضرت عمر ؓ نے ان سے صحبت کرلی اور حضرت کعب کے ساتھ بھی اسی قسم کا واقعہ پیش آیا، صبح ہوتے ہی حضرت عمر ؓ رسول اللہ ﷺ کی خدمت میں تشریف لائے اور آپ کو پورا واقعہ عرض کیا اس پر یہ آیت کریمہ نازل ہوئی”
English translation: Imam Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated through Abdullah bin Ka’b from Ka’b bin Malik that in the beginning, whenever someone kept a fast and then slept in the evening, eating, drinking, and relations with wives all became haram until he broke the fast the next day. One night, Umar Farooq (RA) spoke with the Prophet ﷺ, went home, and wanted to be intimate with his wife. She said she had already slept, but Umar said, “I have not slept yet,” so he had relations with her. The same thing happened with Ka’b bin Malik. In the morning, Umar came to the Prophet ﷺ and told the full story. That is when this ayat was revealed.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Quran 2:187
(Urdu kept as in the source): “ابتدائے اسلام میں یہ حکم تھا کہ افطار کے بعد کھانا پینا، جماع کرنا عشاء کی نماز تک جائز تھا اور اگر کوئی اس سے بھی پہلے سوگیا تو اس پر نیند آتے ہی حرام ہو گیا، اس میں صحابہ رضی اللہ عنہم کو قدرے مشقت ہوئی جس پر یہ رخصت کی آیتیں نازل ہوئیں اور آسانی کے احکام مل گئے رفث سے مراد یہاں جماع ہے۔ [صحیح بخاری:1915] روایت میں یہ بھی ہے کہ صحابہ رضی اللہ عنہم رمضان بھر عورتوں کے پاس نہیں جاتے تھے لیکن بعض لوگوں سے کچھ ایسے قصور بھی ہو جایا کرتے تھے جس پر یہ آیت مبارکہ نازل ہوئی۔ [صحیح بخاری:4508] ایک اور روایت میں ہے کہ یہ قصور کئی ایک حضرات سے ہو گیا تھا جن میں سیدنا عمر بن خطاب رضی اللہ عنہ بھی تھے جنہوں نے عشاء کی نماز کے بعد اپنی اہلیہ سے مباشرت کی تھی پھر دربار نبوت میں شکایتیں ہوئیں اور یہ رحمت کی آیتیں اتریں۔”
English translation: In the early days of Islam, the rule was that after iftar you could eat, drink, and have relations until Isha prayer. But if anyone slept before that, everything became haram as soon as he fell asleep. The companions found this difficult, so these relieving verses came down. “Rafath” here means sexual relations.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4508 (Sahih – most authentic)
Sahih al-Bukhari 4508 Narrated Al-Bara’: When the order of compulsory fasting in Ramadan was revealed, the people did not have sexual relations with their wives during the whole month of Ramadan. But some of them made mistakes. So Allah revealed: “Allah knows that you used to betray yourselves, so He turned to you in mercy and forgave you…” (2:187)
(This hadith with very similar wording is also mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari 1915 in the same chapter on fasting.)
Tafsir e Burhan Urdu – Jild 1, pages 621-622
(Transcribed exactly from the Shia source image):
“حضرت امام صادق علیہ السلام نے فرمایا: مبارک رمضان رات کو ایک دفعہ سونے کے بعد کھانا پینا اور عورتوں سے مباشرت کرنا حرام تھا۔ یعنی اگر کوئی بندہ نماز عشاء پڑھنے کے بعد افطار کے بغیر سوجاتا اور پھر بیدار ہو جاتا تو اس پر کھانا پینا اور عورت سے مباشرت کرنا او رمضان کے دن و رات میں حرام ہوتا۔”
English translation: Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: “In blessed Ramadan! After sleeping once at night, eating, drinking, and sexual relations with wives became haram. That is, if any person prayed Isha and then slept without iftar and later woke up, then eating, drinking, and relations with his wife became haram during the days and nights of Ramadan.”
Tafsir e Qummi – Vol 1, page 236 (on Quran 2:187)
“Also, there were some youths, who had secretly indulged in sexual relations at night in the month of Ramadan. Therefore Allah sent down (this ayat).”
See the pattern? The strict rule came because the best companions (including Umar RA and even Ali RA in some reports about itikaf) could not control their desires. So the ayat was sent to make things easier.
Then came the clear ayat — Quran 2:187
Quran 2:187 Quran.com – Surah Al-Baqarah 187
Arabic: أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ الصِّيَامِ الرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَائِكُمْ ۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَّهُنَّ ۗ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ ۖ فَالْآنَ بَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَابْتَغُوا مَا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۚ وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيْلِ ۚ وَلَا تُبَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ ۗ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ فَلَا تَقْرَبُوهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ آيَاتِهِ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ
English translation: “It has been made lawful for you to go in to your wives during the night of the fast. They are your garment, and you are theirs. Allah knows that you used to betray yourselves and He mercifully relented and pardoned you. So you may now associate intimately with your wives and benefit from the enjoyment Allah has made lawful for you, and eat and drink at night until you can discern the white streak of dawn against the blackness of the night; then (give up all that and) complete your fasting until night sets in. But do not associate intimately with your wives during the period when you are on retreat in the mosques. These are the bounds set by Allah; do not, then, even draw near them. Thus does Allah make His Signs clear to mankind that they may stay away from evil.”
The command is simple and direct: Start fasting when you see the white thread of dawn against the black night. End when night falls again.
The problem no fatwa can solve
In places like Arctic Norway, the sun never sets for weeks or months (midnight sun). In winter there is polar night — no sun for months. Watch this real video of a man trying to fast there: Fasting in Arctic Norway – MUST Watch!
He stands under the midnight sun and full moon saying, “here we have a full moon so we have the Midnight Sun…” How do you see “the white streak of dawn against the blackness of the night” when there is no night and no dawn?
Svalbard (northernmost inhabited place) has four months of total darkness every winter. People have lived in these areas for thousands of years — long before Islam.
Muslim apologists immediately say: “Just follow Saudi timings!” or “Use fatwas and ijma-e-ummat!”
But here is the classical rule that destroys that excuse:
Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence by M. H. Kamali (standard Usul al-Fiqh reference, accepted by all classical schools) Page no. 17: “in the final analysis, ijma’ is subservient to divine revelation and can never overrule the explicit injunctions of the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
A clear ayat of the Quran cannot be changed by any fatwa, any consensus, or any scholar’s opinion. The Quran itself is the highest authority. If a book is truly divine, why does it need human help to become “applicable” in half the world?
And if everyone must copy Saudi timings anyway, then why did Allah give this specific “white thread vs black thread” rule at all? A real God who knows the entire planet would have made one rule that works everywhere — including the Arctic.
Dear Muslim reader, just use your brain for one minute. Why would an all-knowing Allah give a fasting timetable that only works perfectly in Arabia but fails completely in the rest of the world? Why was the rule relaxed because even the best companions could not control their desires? This one ayat — Quran 2:187 — shows the entire system was created by a 7th-century man living in a limited desert area who never knew about the Arctic or polar regions.
If this makes you think twice, ask yourself honestly: Is this really from the Creator of the universe… or from someone who only knew his own small corner of it?
The midnight sun is still shining. The answer is right in front of you. What do you think?