al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl

Al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl (The Sun at Midnight) is a geographical and juridical travel treatise by the Moroccan scholar Muhammad Taqi al-Din al-Hilali (1311–1407 AH / 1893–1987 CE) Mawsuat Mawaqif al-Salaf …, documenting his journey to northern Norway and examining the legal determination of Islamic prayer and fasting times in polar regions experiencing continuous daylight al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl+1.

Background and Journey

Al-Hilali’s interest in polar regions stemmed from early geographical readings regarding Eskimo tribes and the phenomenon of six-month cycles of unbroken day and night, though he initially had no expectation of visiting due to reports of extreme cold and ice al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. In the summer of 1936, he met Dr. Zayn al-Abidin Khayr Allah al-Halabi, a physician at the University of Marburg in Germany, who informed him that inhabited areas in northern Norway experienced continuous summer daylight without darkness al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. After confirming these conditions with the Norwegian embassy in Rabat, al-Hilali resolved to undertake the journey al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.

Setting out by car from Meknes on 2 July alongside his driver al-Hajj Ahmad Harun, al-Hilali traveled through Tetouan, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Ceuta to Algeciras, and drove through Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. Leaving the car in Oslo, he proceeded northward by train and vehicle for two days until reaching Narvik, where he directly observed unbroken twenty-four-hour daylight al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. In his account, he noted maritime ferry crossings, local nomadic reindeer herders, and the celestial path of the midnight sun, which approached the horizon at midnight without setting before rising again in a complete skyward circle, citing the Quranic passage أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl+1. He also dismissed earlier classical misconceptions regarding night lengths in the lands of the Bulgars al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.

Juridical Rulings and Methodology

Al-Hilali initially intended to divide the twenty-four-hour period evenly by performing all five daily prayers within twelve hours and abstaining from prayer during the remaining twelve hours al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. Upon experiencing polar daylight firsthand, he revised his judgment, concluding instead that prayer times in continuous daylight must follow the nearest southern lands with standard daily alternations, such as southern Norway al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. Under this ruling, believers perform dawn prayer (Fajr) and midday prayer (Zuhr) corresponding to their times in the south, grounded in the legal maxim that "what is adjacent to a thing takes its ruling" (ma quriba min al-shay' yu‘ta hukmah), applying the same principle to fasting during Ramadan al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.

The work identifies four distinct polar seasonal cycles:

• Three months of continuous daylight from May through July al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.
• A transitional period from August through October where night progressively lengthens al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.
• Three months of unbroken darkness from late October through January al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.
• A transitional period from February through April where daylight progressively lengthens until night disappears al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.

Regarding the intermediate spring and autumn periods—where night or day lasts for only brief fractions of an hour—al-Hilali refrained from issuing binding fatwas al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl+1. Explaining this stance, he stated his adherence to the tradition of Ahl al-Hadith and the early generations (al-Salaf), who avoided speculative legal reasoning (ra'y) and issued rulings only when a specific situation had actually transpired and required resolution al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.

Literary Content and Reception

During his transit through Andalusia, al-Hilali composed a poem lamenting the lost Muslim presence and calling for unity, employing an original poetic meter of his own invention based on the foot Mustaf‘alātukum Mustaf‘ilīn repeated twice al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl+1. He justified this prosodic addition by citing historical innovations in Arabic verse by later poets and the development of Andalusian muwashshahat al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl. The Moroccan scholar ‘Abd Allah Kannun reviewed the poem and commended it al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl.

The treatise was composed while al-Hilali served as an instructor at the Faculty of Da'wah and Usul al-Din at the Islamic University of Madinah and appeared in its institutional journal al-Shams fi Nisf al-Layl+1.