Arctic Ramadan
Santa's helpers may have a problem...
During the holy month of Ramadan, whose position drifts through the solar year according to a 12-month lunar calendar, Muslims cannot eat nor drink anything while the sun is up (traditionally defined as while a person with normal vision can distinguish a black thread from a white thread in natural sunlight). Ramadan can last up to 30 days. However, north of the Arctic Circle, sunlight can last for months. Because most animals (presumably including elves, if their physiology resembles at all that of humans) cannot survive much more than a week without water, it becomes impossible to uphold this pillar of Islam at the North Pole or even in much of Alaska. On the other hand, darkness can also last for months, making Ramadan meaningless.
The reality
In fact, some Muslims do live in polar regions such as Scandinavia. Because Ramadan stands for sacrifice not suicide, the local religious leaders have suggested fasting by the clock instead of by the sun, using the sunrise and sunset times of the holy city of Mecca as opposed to local
time. Religion doesn't kill people; religious fanatics kill people.
References
- http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny/anthropology/sci.anthropology/archive/october-1995/0527.html
If time is space, holidays are places!