The International Date Line and the Fiqhi Challenge of Determining the Days of the Week in the American Continent

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1  Researcher and Instructor of Advanced Levels of Fiqh and Principles, A'immah Athar Fiqhi Center, Qom, Iran;

2  Researcher, Office for Fiqhi Studies of Forensic Medicine and Member of the Principles Group, A'immah Athar Fiqhi Center, Qom, Iran

3  Graduated from the third level of the Fiqh Center of the Holy Imams (AS), Qom, Iran

Abstract

The days of the week constitute one of the units of time that are subject to specific rulings in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). For instance, Friday (Jumu'ah) is the subject of numerous obligatory (wajib) and recommended (mustahabb) injunctions. The determination of the days of the week is clear and established for regions that were inhabited during the time of the Prophet and the Infallible Imams (Peace Be Upon Them), by virtue of their tacit approval. However, determining these days in regions that were uninhabited during their era, such as the American continent, presents a significant fiqhi challenge. In the contemporary era, a demarcation known as the International Date Line (IDL) has been established as the origin point for the days of the week. Given the importance of this issue, the present article examines the shar'i (religious-legal) ruling concerning the determination of the days of the week in proximity to the IDL. Through an analytical-critical methodology, the study explicates the nature of the ambiguity and its fiqhi implications, and subsequently demonstrates two primary conclusions: Firstly, based on recurrent and well-attested narrations (mutawātir riwāyāt), the days of the week from a shar'i perspective are not merely a matter of conventional assignment, but are rather rooted in an objective reality and truth. Secondly, the determination of the days of the week in the American continent, which is governed by international conventions, requires the subsequent endorsement (imḍā) of the Lawgiver (i.e., divine sanction), which cannot be definitively established in this case.

Highlights

Conclusion

The present study yielded the following results:

In certain regions of the Earth, due to their proximity to the International Date Line, the days of the week cannot be definitively determined and require careful consideration.

Considering the numerous narrations that designate specific days of the week as subjects for religious rulings—such as medical narrations, narrations concerning the virtue or inauspiciousness of weekdays, narrations about celestial events occurring on specific days, and narrations explaining the specific effects of deeds performed on particular days—it must be acknowledged that the distinction between the days of the week is not merely conventional. Rather, numerous material and spiritual, existential effects are consequent upon them. In fact, even if we were to accept that the difference between the days of the week is a conventional matter, it must be stated that the criterion and standard in this regard is a specific convention that has received the endorsement (*imḍā'*) of the Sacred Law. Given that the conventional determination of days in some regions of the world, such as the American continent, lacks verification of such endorsement by the Sacred Law, we therefore lack a valid religious proof (*dalīl sharʿī*) for the precise determination of the days of the week in these regions.

The ultimate conclusion is that, in light of these considerations, one cannot simply, through the decision of a single country or through international agreements, determine the days of the week for regions of the Earth and expect that religious rulings (*aḥkām sharʿiyyah*) would consequently apply to them. The result is that the International Date Line, which is the product of international agreements and conventions, holds no religious validity and cannot serve as the basis for determining the days of the week.

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In Persian and Arabic
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