Nahda Online

Ramadan and Fiqh (rules) of fasting in Ramadan

Note: This is an amalgamation of Mukhtasar Al Qudri And Nur Al Idah, two works on Fiqh from the Hanafi school of fiqh. This is not a summary of general fasting, but that which is specific to Ramadhan only.

1.0 THE OBLIGATION OF FASTING

• The time for fasting is from the rising of the second dawn until the setting of the sun.
• Fasting is: abstaining from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse by day with the intention.
• If in Ramadan a child reached adulthood, or an unbeliever accepted Islam, they abstain [from things which invalidate fasting] for the remainder of that day, and fast that which comes thereafter. They do not make up this fast as long as they adhere to these guidelines.
• If a traveller arrives [at his place of residence], or a [menstruating] woman attains purity with part of the day [remaining], they abstain [from those things which invalidate fasting] for the rest of that day and they do not have to make up the fast if they do this satisfactorily.

2.0 THE INTENTION

• Fasting is of two sorts: obligatory and supererogatory (sunnah/nafl).
• The obligatory is of two sorts: among it is that which is attached to a specific time, such as the fast of Ramadan, and a specified vow. The fasting of [this category] is valid with an intention from the night, but if one did not intend until the morning, the intention suffices him between [dawn] and {the middle of the day}. The second kind is that which becomes obligatory to fulfil, such as the make-up [fasts] of Ramadan, unrestricted vows, and atonements. These are not valid without an intention from the night.
• For the Fasts of Ramadhan (that which this document is about) then the intention is necessary, but one can make the intention either before suhoor, at suhoor, or at any time between suhoor and a little before midday of the day on which they are to be fasting. They must not have eaten intentionally after suhoor and can make this intention to be fasting between these times for their fast to be valid.
• The intention doesn’t have to be specific and can be a general intention – this means that one doesn’t have to intend with date and with reason for the fast – this is because it is Ramadhan and fasting is obligatory – thus even if one makes a general intention unspecified for Ramadhan it suffices without it having to be specifically for that particular day.
• All of the nafl is valid with an intention before {the middle of the day}.

3.0 ACTIONS OF THE FASTING PERSON

3.1 Things that do not break the fast
• If the fasting one ate, or drank, or had sexual intercourse out of forgetfulness [that he was fasting], his fast is not broken.
• If he slept and then had an erotic dream, or looked at a woman and ejaculated, or oiled [his head], or underwent bloodletting, or used eyeliner/kuhl [in his eyes], or kissed, his fast is not broken.
• If one is overcome by vomiting, his fast is not broken. If one takes the vomit back in then the fast is not broken if it is less than one mouthful. See 3.3 for more.
• Backbiting and swearing do NOT break the fast but decrease its reward considerably.
• Smoke entering through the throat unintentionally doesn’t break the fast.
• IF the taste of medicine accidentally enters the mouth or throat, the fast is NOT broken.
• If water enters the opening of the ears, the fast is NOT broken.
• If nasal mucus enters the nasal passage and is sniffed back into the throat and swallowed on purpose, the fast is not broken.
• But the phlegm of the throat should be expelled from the mouth.
• If one swallows the traces of food that remain between one’s teeth from the previous meal, it doesn’t break the fast if they are less than the size of the chickpea and they do it intentionally.
• If he applied drops inside his urethra, his fast is not broken.

3.2 Things that are disliked for the Fasting Person
• If someone tastes something with his mouth, his fast is not broken, but it is disliked for him to do that.
• It is disliked for a woman to chew the food for her infant if she has some alternative.
• Gathering the saliva in the mouth and then swallowing it is disliked.
• If giving blood makes a person weak, then it is disliked to give it. If it does not, then there is no problem with this.

3.3 Things that Break the Fast and requires a Makeup day only
• If he ejaculated on account of a kiss or touch, then make-up is due upon him. There is no harm in kissing if he feels himself safe, but it is disliked if he does not feel safe. (ie. Newly wed)
• Makeup is due, but not expiation, for someone who had intercourse in other than the private parts and ejaculated.
• If one deliberately made himself vomit a mouthful then makeup is due upon him.
• The fast of someone who swallows pebbles or iron is broken.
• Whoever had an anal enema, or applied nose-drops, or eardrops, or treated a torn belly or a skull-fracture with medicine such that it reached his body cavity or his brain, his fast is broken.
• If someone had suhur thinking the dawn had not [yet] risen, or broke his fast thinking the sun had set, and then it turned out that the dawn had risen, or that the sun had not set, makes up that day, but there is no expiation due on him.
• If rain or snow enters the throat and is swallowed accidentally, it breaks the fast but doesn’t require expiation. The same goes for one who is gargling and accidentally water goes into his throat and he swallows it – his fast is broken but doesn’t require expiation.
• If one vomits intentionally, even if it is less than a mouthful then the fast is broken but no expiation is required.
• If the person returns more than a mouthful of vomit back into the stomach then the fast is broken/void whereas if it is less then the fast is allowed to go on.
• Someone who lost consciousness in Ramadan does not make up the day on which the loss of consciousness occurred, but he makes up that which came after it.
• If a woman menstruates, she stops fasting and makes up [fasting for the days of menstruation].
• Whoever enters into an optional fast, or an optional prayer, and then spoils it, makes it up.

CRITICAL NOTE: IF a person breaks his fast, it is necessary to abstain from eating for the remainder of the day even after the fast is broken. They also have to make up the day if they did something that is 3.3.

3.4 Things that Break the Fast and require Makeup and Expiation

• Expiation is due on someone who deliberately has sexual intercourse in one of the two passages, or intentionally eats or drinks something which provides nutrition, or is used for treatment.
• Medicine taken for nourishment also breaks the fast.
• If the equivalent of a seed of grain or sesame from OUTSIDE the mouth is consumed intentionally (or larger than this in size, obviously), then the fast is nullified and the person must expiate for it too.
• If one swallows their wife’s saliva or that of a friend, expiation is required.
• If a person out of ignorance but good intention heard a hadith of the Prophet relating to a certain act and thought that his fast was broken, and ate or did something similar, then he doesn’t have to expiate for it but he must make up one day.
• EXPIATION – or kaffarah – is one of the following things. If a person does an act under section 3.4 and it says that they must expiate for it, then there is a choice of a few things for the person: A) They must free a slave OR B) They must fast sixty days consecutively like the fast of Ramadhan with NO breaks in the middle (!) OR C) They must feed 60 unfortunate people who are to be treated lunch/dinner. Or they can treat the same person sixty times on sixty days. One must do the things in order – that is, they must try to do A, but if they cannot, then B, and if they cannot do B, then C. The matter is not one of choice but ability to execute. Given today slavery does not exist, for most, B would be the first option.

4.0 EXCUSES

4.1 Those who may Postpone Fasting

• Someone who is sick in Ramadan, and fears that if he fasts his sickness will increase, breaks his fast and makes it up later.
• If one is a traveller who is not harmed by fasting, then for him to fast is preferable, but if he does not fast and makes it up later it is permissible.
• The pregnant or nursing woman, if they fear for their children, do not fast and make it up, and there is no redemption due upon them.

4.2 Making up Missed Fasts

• The makeup of Ramadan may be performed separately if one wishes, or consecutively if one wishes.
• If one delayed it until another Ramadan entered, he fasts the second Ramadan, and makes up the first after it, and there is no redemption due upon him.
• If the invalid or the traveller dies while they are in that condition, makeup is not incumbent upon them. But, if the invalid recovers, or the traveller takes up residence, and then they die, makeup is incumbent upon them for the extent of the health or residence.

4.3 Redemption (Fidyah)

• The aged man who is not capable of fasting does not fast, and for every day he feeds a poor person, just as one feeds in expiations.
• Whoever died with makeup [fasts] of Ramadan due upon him, and bequeathed for it, his guardian, on his behalf, feeds for every day to one poor person: half a sa` of wheat, or one sa` of dates, or one sa` of barley.

5.0 SECLUSION (I`TIKAF)

• Seclusion is praiseworthy & recommended. It comprises remaining in the mosque, with fast and the intention of seclusion. This MUST be a mosque where the five daily prayers are prayed in congregation.
• It is prohibited for the secluded one:
o To have sexual intercourse
o To touch [with lust]
o To kiss
o If the secluded one had sexual intercourse, by night or day, his seclusion is invalidated.
o He should not exit from the mosque except for a human need, or for Jumu`ah prayer.
• There is no harm in his buying or selling in the mosque without bringing the goods there.
• He should speak only well, but [intentional] silence is disliked for him.
• Whoever obligated upon himself seclusion for a number of days is obliged to seclude himself for them along with their nights, and the days are consecutive, even if he did not stipulate consecutiveness.