1.) Fasting in the month of Ramadhaan is one of the five pillars of Islaam, which is fardh (compulsory) upon every Muslim, male and female, who is sane and mature.

2.) Fasting has many physical, moral, and social benefits. The main object of fasting is to inculcate taqwa.

3.) Fasting means to abstain from eating, drinking and cohabitation from subh saadiq (early dawn) to sunset with the intention of fasting. If no intention is made, the fast will not be valid. However, it is not necessary to express the intention verbally, but to intend in the heart. A person can make an intention up to midday for fardh, sunnah and mustahab fasts. (Midday means the hours of the day from subh sadiq till sunset, not from sunrise till sunset.) As for qadhaa fasts, the intention must be made before subh saadiq. 

4.) It is makrooh to fast on only the 9th or only the 10th of Muharram or only on Saturdays. It is haraam (forbidden) to fast on Eidul-Fitr, Eidul-Adha and three days after Eidul Adha.

 

MUSTAHABS IN FASTING

1.) To partake of sehri (meal before subh saadiq).

2.) To delay the sehri upto a little before subh saadiq.

3.) To break the fast immediately after sunset.

4.) To break one’s fast with dry or fresh dates if available; if not, then with water.

5.) To make intention of fasting before subh saadiq.

 

MAKROOH ACTIONS WHILE FASTING

1.) To chew gum, rubber, plastic items, or other such things.

2.) To taste any particle of food or drink and spit it out. If a woman has an ill-tempered husband, it is permissible for her to taste the food, provided it does not go down the throat.

3.) To collect one’s saliva in the mouth and then to swallow it, trying to quench one’s thirst.

4.) To delay a bath that has become fardh knowingly until after Subh Saadiq.

5.) To use paste or tooth powder to clean one’s teeth. It is permitted to clean with a miswaak which does not have any taste.

6.) To complain of hunger and thirst.

7.) To take the water too much up to the nostrils when cleaning the nose.

8.) To gargle more than necessary.

9.) To quarrel, argue, use filthy and indecent words.

10.) To backbite, tell a lie and swear, etc. are sinful acts at normal times. They are even worse when fasting.

11.) If blood is extracted whilst fasting by means of an injection then the fast of a person will not be affected. However if there is a fear of weakness overcoming a person due to extracting blood then extracting blood will be regarded as Makrooh. 

 

THINGS THAT BREAK THE FAST

Things that break one’s fast are of two kinds. Some make qadhaa necessary, while others make qadhaa and kaffaarah necessary. Qadhaa means to keep one fast in place of the nullified fast. Kaffaarah means to keep sixty fasts consecutively. If due to a valid reason e.g. continuous sickness, one cannot keep these sixty fasts, then he has one of the following options:

a.) Feed sixty poor people to their fill for two meals

b.) Feed one poor person two meals daily, for sixty days

c.) Give 60 poor persons 3,5 lbs. (±1,6 k.g.) of wheat or its value in cash or food grains

d.) Give one poor persons 3,5 lbs. (±1,6 k.g.) of wheat, rice, or food grains, etc. to its value of cash for 60 days.

 

THINGS THAT MAKE QADHAA AND KAFFAARAH COMPULSORY

1.) Eating, drinking, cohabitation or breaking the Ramadhaan fast in any other manner e.g. smoking without a valid reason.

2.) To drink any kind of medicine intentionally.

3.) Applying surma in the eye or rubbing oil on the head, and then thinking that the fast is broken, to eat or drink intentionally.

 

THINGS THAT MAKE QADHAA ONLY COMPULSORY

1.) Anything put by force into the mouth of a fasting person

2.) Water going down the throat whilst gargling, and the person is conscious that he is fasting. Whilst making Wudhu or Ghusl in Ramadhaan, one should not insert water into the nostrils to such an extent that it reaches the soft portion of the nose. Similarly one should not allow water to reach the throat

3.) Vomiting a mouthful intentionally or returning vomit down the throat even if a small amount

4.) Intentionally swallowing a pebble, piece of paper or any item that is not used as food or medicine

5.) Swallowing something edible, equal to or bigger than a grain of gram which was stuck between the teeth. However if it is first taken out of the mouth and swallowed, it will break the fast even if smaller than the size of a gram. Based on the above ruling, if any of the Miswaak strains enter the stomach the fast will not be invalid.

6.) Putting oil into the ears.

7.) Inhaling smoke intentionally into the nostrils.

8.) Swallowing the blood from the gums if the colour of the blood is more than the saliva with which it is mixed. If a person is experiencing a severe toothache due to which the tooth requires removal then the tooth may be removed whilst fasting. However, if any blood enters the throat then the fast will be nullified. It is also Makrooh to extract one’s teeth unnecessarily.

9.) To eat and drink forgetting that one is fasting and thereafter thinking that the fast is broken, to eat and drink again.

10.) To eat and drink after Subh Saadiq or to break the fast before sunset due to a cloudy sky or a faulty watch, etc. and then realize one’s fault.

11.) Using an asthma inhaler

12.) Sniffing any medicine e.g. Vicks which reaches the brain of a person

13.) Ejaculation by masturbating

14.) A person sitting close to a smoking person who intentionally allows smoke to enter his throat

15.) Inserting a suppository through the anus

16.) Intentionally pouring water into the ears or nose

Note:

1.) Any fast besides the Ramadhaan one, whether broken intentionally or with a good and valid reason, makes only Qadhaa compulsory. There is no kaffaarah for breaking any other fast besides that of Ramadhaan.

2.) If the fast of a person is nullified due to some reason during the month of Ramadhaan then it is Waajib for him to resemble the fasting people for the remainder of the day. A woman experiencing her menstrual cycle in Ramadhaan is permitted to eat and drink in solitude. If her menstrual cycle ends during the day then she should abstain from food and drink for the remainder of the day.

3.) A person that eats openly in the month of Ramadhaan without a valid Shari’ee excuse is termed as a faasiq (transgressor of Shariat), one who dishonours the symbols of Islam. In a Muslim country the Khalifa should impose the death sentence upon such a person. 

 

THINGS THAT DO NOT BREAK THE FAST

1.) To eat or drink something forgetfully.

2.) A mosquito, fly or any other object going down the throat unintentionally.

3.) Water entering the ears, even by swimming, etc.

4.) Dust or dirt going down the throat.

5.) Swallowing one’s saliva.

6.) Taking an injection or being cupped.

7.) Applying of surmah (antimony) in the eyes, rubbing oil onto the body or hair, and applying itr (scent) or perfume whilst fasting does not invalidate the fast. If a person finds the effect of the surmah in one’s saliva or in one’s mucus, then too the fast will be valid. It is not permitted to inhale smoke of lobaan or aghar batti while fasting. It is also not permitted to smoke cigarettes or inhale its smoke.

8.) Taking a bath to keep cool.

9.) To vomit unintentionally even if more than a mouthful.

10.) Brushing the teeth without tooth paste or powder e.g. using a miswaak, etc.

11.) Tears enter the mouth whilst fasting, if it is one or two drops of tears. However, if plenty of tears entered the mouth as a result of which the saltiness could be tasted in the mouth then the fast will be invalid. The same ruling will apply to the perspiration of the face.

12.) Bleeding nose even if the effect of the saliva can be tasted in the saliva.

13.) A dream which makes ghusl compulsory does not break the fast.

14.) Swimming whilst fasting. However, one should ensure that water does not enter the throat; else the fast will be nullified.

15.) Conducting of an internal by a gynaecologist However, if the finger is wet, qadhaa will be necessary.

16.) Kissing one’s wife whilst fasting. If one fears that such an action will lead one towards sexual relationship then one should not do so. 

17.) Inserting medication into the body by means of an injection

18.) Glucose inserted into the body by means of drips

19.) Emergence of madhee (pre-coital fluid) (i.e. the liquid that emits from one’s private part during foreplay)

20.) Ejaculating un-intentionally merely by looking or thinking (of a woman)

21.) Utilizing lip-ice, Vaseline, or other balms on the lips when one is sure that he will not swallow any of these substances 

 

PEOPLE EXEMPTED FROM FASTING

1.) Sick people, when their health is likely to be badly affected by fasting. They should make up for the loss when they recover after Ramadhaan. A very old person who does not have the strength to fast or a very sick person who has no hope of recovering after Ramadhaan should give fidyah for each fast missed in Ramadhaan. The fidyah is to give a.) 1,6 kg of wheat b.) 3,2 kg of barley or c.) the equivalent of the above in cash or kind. If the person regains strength or recovers after Ramadhaan, he must keep the missed number of fasts. Whatever was given as fidyah will be rewarded by Allaah Jalla Jalaalahoo. No other person is allowed to fast for another sick person.

A young woman that is not well or a woman that has just given birth to a child and is unable to fast cannot give Fidya for the fasts that have been missed. If they have given the Fidya but recover at a later stage, then fasts will have to kept.  

If a person is a diabetic and unable to fast, then he is excused. However, as long as he has the hope of regaining his health, paying the fidyah will not suffice, but he will have to keep the qadhaa on regaining his health. However, if one does not regain his health then paying the fidyah will be permitted.

 

2.) A musaafir (one undertaking a journey of more than 77 km and does not intend staying there more than 14 days.) However, it is best for him to fast in Ramadhaan than fasting later, provided the journey is not tiresome. Note: If a person is a Musaafir at the time of Subh-e-Saadiq then fasting is not obligatory upon him thus he may keep the Qa'daah at a later stage. If one was not a Musaafir at the time of Subh Saadiq then it is Fardh upon him to fast.

 

3.) If it is feared that hunger or thirst will lead to one’s death, it will be permitted to break one’s fast.

Note: Children should be encouraged to fast but should not be forced to complete the fast upto sunset if they are unable to bear the hunger or thirst.

 

4.) A student upon whom fasting is compulsory is not permitted to omit any fasts because of writing his examinations. He should write his examinations whilst fasting and Allaah Jalla Jalaalahoo will assist him.

Note: If a person commences his fasts in South Africa and then undertakes a journey to Makkah Mukarrama for Umrah then he will celebrate Eid with the people of Makkah even though Eid is a day or two earlier in Saudi Arabia, and after Eid he must complete the fasts that were missed.