Peace be upon you, Is it permissible for Muslims to travel in vacation to different countries such like Dubai, Syria, Turkey, Sweden etc. to enjoy holidays? But in some countries like Sweden we find unusual climatic condition and hence it remains night for 6 months and day 6 months. I wonder how could it be possible to pray obligatory prayer at these places? Thank you.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is His Slave and Messenger.

It is impermissible to travel to the countries mentioned in the question just for tourism, due to the obvious evil and the spread of temptations in those countries. It is also impermissible to travel for tourism in the Islamic countries to the places where there are many evildoings, and which are frequented by dissolute and those who are heedless of their religion, because whoever frequents those places will also become heedless of his religion.

There is no doubt that tourism, in its present concept, could hardly be free from Sharee‘ah violations. Furthermore, the great amount of money which the tourist spends on air tickets, hotel accommodation, entering tourist sites, and the effort and time which he wastes in them, is hard to justify under Sharee‘ah, let alone what is often seen in tourist sites of nakedness, public immoralities, and reckless behavior.

In fact, scholars stated that it is unlawful for a person to travel to a place where he sees evil acts which he is unable to change, and rather there is fear on him that he may be tempted by them, unless there is a dire necessity. No doubt, man will be questioned about his time and money; the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “The two feet of the servant will not cease (from standing before Allaah) on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about his lifetime: how he has spent it; about his knowledge: what he has done with it; about his wealth: from which sources he has earned it, and how he has spent it; and about his body: in what way he has utilized it.” [At-Tirmithi reported it on the authority of Abu Barzah, and graded it as authentic] The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, further said: “There are two favors, which a lot of people waste: health and free time.” [narrated by Al-Bukhari, At-Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas ]

Hence, it is due on a Muslim to spend his time in what benefits him in his religion and his worldly life, and not to spend his time and money in what is prohibited by Allaah The Almighty.

However, we do not mean by what we have mentioned that travelling for tourism is unlawful, in principle. The basic rule is that travelling for the purpose of entertainment and tourism is permissible, as long as it is free of Sharee‘ah violations, but this rarely happens. There are a lot of Quranic Verses in which Allaah Commands mankind to travel through the land. He The Almighty Says (what means): {Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those who were before them?}[Quran 40:21] The purpose of this travel through the land is to take lessons from the people before us, and to learn from their conditions, and meditate and consider their end. No doubt, this differs from tourism in its present concept, which involves committing many Sharee'ah violations.

Finally, the fact remains that if tourism is free from all Sharee‘ah violations, there will be no objection to it. But we advise our Muslim brothers to do what is more beneficial to themselves and to their Ummah than such tourism.

As for the way of prayer in the places where the night and day are several months long, refer to Fatwa 83637.

Allaah Knows best.