The Things you want to know about fasting

Fasting is the fourth pillar of Islam. Allah says: "Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed to those before you that perchance you might learn self restraint." [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 183]

A Muslim must fast during the lunar month of Ramadhan. This month is significant, because the Quran was first revealed in Ramadhan. Allah says: "Ramadhan is the month in which the Quran was sent down as a guidance to humanity and as clear signs for guidance and judgment. So whoever is present during this month should spend it in fasting. But whoever is ill or on a journey should make up (whatever days he missed) by fasting other days." [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 185]

If a person misses some Ramadhan fasts for a legitimate reason, does he or she have to make them up before the next fast or is there no time limit? You have to fast the missing days before the beginning of the following Ramadhan. The sooner you complete the missed fasts the better. If you delay until the next Ramadhan arrives without having a legitimate excuse for the delay, you still have to make up these fasts after Ramadhan, but you also have to feed one poor person for each day as expiation for the delay.A person who is sick, on a journey, or otherwise excuse from making a fast on time can break his or her fast and will have to make up the number of days that he or she has missed. Allah says: “And whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 185] The days can be made up together or at different times, before the following Ramadhan or afterwards.

Pregnant women are not allowed to fast Ramadhan but must they make up their fasts and feed a poor person for each day missed. There is an authentic Hadith related by Anas b. Malik al-Ka`bî that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah has exempted women from fasting and praying during their menses and exempted them from fasting when pregnant or nursing." Also, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never asked women to feed the poor or do anything else as expiation. His not mentioning more detail means that there is nothing else expected from them.
If a person is unsure how many fasts he has broken or missed, how does he calculate how many that he has to make up? He is obligated to fast whatever number it takes for him to be sure that he made up all the missed fasts. He can overestimate if he has to. However, he should not exaggerate his estimate or allow unfounded doubts to cause him to increase the number of days unreasonably.

If a Muslim breaks his fast in Ramadhan by having sex during the day, what must he do? The one who engages in sexual intercourse with his wife intentionally during the daytime in Ramadhan while he has no lawful excuse to break his fast will be obligated to make expiation as follows: He must fast 60 consecutive days. If he is unable to do so, then he must feed 60 poor people. Aside from this expiation, he must also fast a single day in lieu of the one he missed in Ramadhan. He also has to repent to Allah for the sin that he committed.

If I have a serious medical condition is it permitted to just take the smallest amount of water to take the pills and restrict myself to one cracker to settle my stomach and still consider myself fasting? If a trustful Muslim doctor says that it is not permissible to fast, then you can break your fast and make it up after you recover. If recovery is delayed or not expected and you are almost certain that you will not be cured, then you can feed one needy person 1.5 kilograms of food for each day of fasting. This food should be of the quality that you would generally eat yourself. You will not be able to fast unless you can take all of your medication, water, and food between sunset and dawn. If you cannot fast, you may eat normally. You will still be able to participate in Ramadhan by providing food for a poor person every day. This is also an act of worship to be done by those Muslims who cannot fast. You may also pray the Tarâwîh prayers.
Is there a way of defining to the type of illness that justifies a person breaking his or her fast? An illness is anything that takes a person out of a state of good health. A sick person for whom fasting would be injurious to his health may break his fast. On this basis, Ibn Qudâmah writes in al-Mughnî: “It is a matter of juristic consensus among scholars that it is, in general, permissible for the sick person to break his fast.” The proof for this is the verse: “Whoever among you is ill or on a journey can make up the number from other days.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 184] In this verse, Allah has given permission for the person who is ill to abstain from fasting in the month of Ramadhan and to make up however many days he misses on account of his illness at a later date.
If I am fasting during the day in Ramadhan and I find that I need to travel on that day, should I fast or break my fast? Can I break my fast while I am still at home once I have a firm intention to travel? There are three possible circumstances that might apply to a traveller in Ramadhan:

The first is for a person to be on a journey when the month of Ramadhan starts. Scholars agree that such a person has the right to refrain from fasting as long as he is travelling.

The second circumstance is for a person to be a resident at the start of the month of Ramadhan and then embark on a journey during the month at night. He is permitted to refrain from fasting on the following day as long as he is still on a journey when morning arrives.

The third circumstance is where a person who is fasting during the day embarks on a journey in the daytime, either before noon or after it. It is permissible for a traveller who starts his journey during the day to break his fast. It is more in conformity with the fact that permission not to fast is a concession for the traveller. However, the person should not break his fast until he has at least departed from the area of habitation where he was residing, meaning that he should depart from its populated area and its buildings. Therefore, the correct position on the matter is that a person who intends to travel during the day in Ramadhan may not break his fast until he has actually started his journey and distanced himself from the buildings of his town of residence. Only then may he break his fast.

Scholars agree that a traveller is allowed to fast if he wishes to, just as he is permitted to break his fast. However, it is preferable for him to do what is easiest for him. If breaking his fast is easier for him, then that is what is preferred. If it is easier for him to continue fasting until sunset, and if he wishes to fast along with everyone else and not have to make up the day later, then that is what is preferred.

What type of travel during Ramadhan permits a person to abstain from fasting? Scholars are unanimously agreed that a traveller is permitted to refrain from fasting. Allah says: “(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 184] Allah says: “...but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 185] The Sunnah is full of instances where the Prophet (peace be upon him) refrained from fasting while on a journey in Ramadhan. The majority of scholars have quantified this as being a journey whose minimum total distance is that of 4 barîd, which in modern terms is roughly 82 kilometres.

If a woman is unable to observe the fast of `Arafah on the ninth of Dhû al-Hijjah or the fast of `Âshûrâ’ on the tenth of Muharram because she is menstruating, should she make up those fast on another day? Voluntary acts of worship are of two kinds: those that have a specific cause for them and those that do not. Those voluntary acts of worship that have a specific cause for them should not be made up if that cause is missed. If a person delays one of these fasts without any excuse for doing so, then it is without doubt that he will not be able to make it up. If he does attempt to make it up, he will not get the special benefits conferred upon one who observes one of those two special fasts. In a case where a person has an excuse that prevents him from fasting – like a person who is sick or a woman who is menstruating on that particular day – then it still appears that the fast should not be made up. Those fasts are particular for those two specific days, and they cannot be offered if that day is missed.

If someone could not fast the last Ramadhan in which he was alive. But died a few months later without having ever been well enough to make up the missed days of fasting. What are his wife and children supposed to do? Fast in his place? Give money to the poor? Both? In case they should feed or clothe the poor, what would be sufficient? Allah says: “Whoever is sick or on a journey should make up the number of days later. Allah wants ease for you, and He does not wish hardship upon you.” Allah has made it obligatory upon the sick person to make up the days later. However, if he dies before he recovers, then he has dies before the time has come when the fasting of those days becomes obligatory on him. With respect to those missed days, he is the same as a person who dies before Ramadhan. No one has to feed the poor on his behalf on account of the coming Ramadhan that has yet to arrive, even if he died right before the month of Ramadhan began.

The same can be said for a sick person as long as he remains sick. He is not obligated to fast until after he gets better. Therefore, if he dies before he recovers, then he has died before fasting those days has become obligatory upon him. It is not obligatory for anyone to feed the poor on his behalf, since feeding the poor is a substitute for an obligatory fast. If the fast itself is not an obligation for him, then feeding likewise is not an obligation. This is what the verse of the Quran indicates – that if the person has not the ability to fast, then there is nothing upon him.

If you give birth now in the month of Ramadhan and are presently nursing the newborn baby. Is the mother unable to fast and breast-feed at the same time. Does she really have to make up all those days later on? Can’t she just expiate for the missed days by feeding a poor person for each missed day? A nursing mother who finds fasting in Ramadhan difficult for her is fully within her rights to abstain from fasting. A pregnant woman and a nursing mother, if they break their fasts on account of their condition, take the same ruling as those who break their fasts because they are ill or on a journey. This means that they must make up the missed fasts at a later date, when doing so becomes easy for them.

The correct ruling is that these women have to make up the fasts that they miss. Allah says: “Whoever among you who is ill or on a journey should fast a number of other days.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 184] The application of this ruling to pregnant women and nursing mothers is made clear in the following Hadith. Anas b. Mâlik relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah has excused the traveller from the obligation to fast and from half the units of his prayer. He has excused the pregnant woman and the nursing mother from fasting.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (715), Sunan Abî Dâwûd (2408), and Sunan Ibn Mâjah (1667)] This indicates to us that the ruling for the traveller being excused from fasting is the same as that of a nursing mother. Since the traveller must make up his fast later on, so must the nursing mother.

Is it alright to get vaccinated during a fast in the month of Ramadhan. Vaccinations, anaesthetic injections, and other non-nutritive injections do not break your fast because they do not constitute eating or drinking. Such injections do not resemble eating or drinking in any way. Nutritional injections, on the other hand, do break your fast because their effects resemble those of eating or drinking. Though it is alright to take non-nutritive vaccinations while fasting in the month of Ramadhan, it would be better to take them at night, if possible.

I have asthma, and I have to take inhalers twice a day. I want to know if I can still fast, and that my fast would be accepted if I take my inhalers throughout the day while I’m fasting. It is allowed for a fasting person to use an inhaler if needed. Allah says: “He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you except under compulsion of necessity.” Inhalers are not in the form of food and drink. They resembles non-nutritive injections. [Majmû` al-Fatâwâ (volume 15, page 264)]

If someone has to undergo an operation during the day in Ramadhan requiring to be placed under total anaesthesia for about 30 minutes. What is the status of their fast for that day? Being under anaesthesia for half an hour does not affect the fast. What would affect it is if some anaesthetic substance were to enter her stomach. Her fast would be broken only in the event that she had to eat or drink something to induce unconsciousness. If she is not sure what had taken place and is unable to find out, it would be good for her to make up her fast on some other day.

Is it permissible to use siwâk toothsticks while fasting. However, can a person brush his teeth with toothpaste, or would this break his fast? It will not break your fast unless you swallow the toothpaste. However, without going so far to say that it is makrûh to use toothpaste while fasting, Sheik Ibn al-`Uthaymîn discourages it. He says: There is nothing wrong with a fasting person using toothpaste, as long as it does not go down his gullet. However, it would be better to refrain from using it, simply because it has a strong tendency to go down a person’s throat while he is unaware. For this reason, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Exaggerate in inhaling water (while performing ablutions) except when you are fasting.” Therefore, it is better for a fasting person to refrain from using toothpaste. The matter is easy. If he simply waits until after he breaks his fast to brush his teeth with toothpaste, he will have avoided what might possibly nullify his fast.

If I mistakenly, break my fast two minutes prior to sunset. What is the ruling on the validly of this fast? Do I have to make it up? A fasting person does not invalidate his fast if he does something to break his fast either in ignorance or out of forgetfulness. Allah says: “There is no blame on you for what you do by mistake, but only for what your hearts have deliberately resolved upon.” [Sûrah al-Ahzâb: 5] Also: “Our Lord! Do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 286]

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah has pardoned my people for what they do by mistake or out of forgetfulness and for what they are coerced into doing.” [Sunan Ibn Mâjah (2043)] The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever forgets he is fasting and eats or drinks something should complete his fast, for it is merely that Allah has given him food and drink.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1933)]

It is not related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered them to make up their fast. Therefore, if someone eats on a day of fasting believing that dawn has not yet arrived and then realizes that it has, his fast will be valid and he will not have to make up that fast on another day.
If a female fasted from dawn until sunset. After sunset, and after breaking her fast and offering the Maghrib prayer, she found that her monthly menstrual period had started. If she had no idea whether it started before Maghrib or afterwards, would she have to make that day of fasting over again? You should not make up that day of fasting. This is because there is no way for you to be certain that your menstrual period began before sunset. As long as there is any doubt about when your menstrual period started, you do not go against the previous assumption based on the certainty that you were not menstruating. You fasted the day upon the certainty that you were not menstruating. You only became certain that you had begun to menstruate when you saw the blood after sunset. Likewise, the default assumption regarding your fasting for that day is that a fast that you have observed from beginning to end is a valid fast. This validity cannot be overturned by something wherein there is any doubt. Your fast is intact. The legal principle here is that certainty is never overturned by doubt.

When does one stop eating during suhur (pre-dawn meal)? When does one start eating after fasting? During suhur, if one hears the Adhan but still has a piece of food in his hand, is he allowed to finish it? Allah has permitted the fasting person to eat and drink until dawn comes. He, Most High, says: (… and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn …) (Al-Baqarah 2: 187) However, it is preferable that the fasting person stops eating and drinking a few minutes before dawn.

There are two times for stopping eating during suhur (pre-dawn meal), namely a preferred time and a permitted time. Preferred time to stop eating is ten minutes before Fajr time. So if the Fajr time is 6:12 a.m., one should stop eating around 6 a.m. Permitted time for eating suhur, however, extends up to 6:12 a.m., after which time it is considered unlawful. Therefore, if anyone deliberately did so, the fast is considered broken.

It is said the Prophet’s (pbuh) Companions that they finished suhur meal with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and after having done so they still had enough time to finish reading fifty verses of the Quran before Fajr. The estimated time for such reading is ten minutes. However, as mentioned earlier, the permitted time for suhur can extend up to the time of Fajr. If the Adhan (call to prayer) is called on time, that is the final cut off point for suhur. But if, on the contrary, the Adhan is called after the time of Fajr has started, then the real time to consider is not the time of Adhan; rather one must consider the time as posted in the time-table. Supposing that the Adhan is called on time, and one still has a piece of food in his hands, he is better advised not to consume it; he may, however, swallow what is already in his mouth. As for when is one supposed to start eating while breaking fast, the answer is: One should break the fast as soon as the sun has set, without delay. The Prophet’s Sunnah is not to delay fast breaking. He said that his Ummah will continue to enjoy blessings of Allah so long as they break their fast as soon as the sun has set without further delay.

Things that break the fast Among the things that break the fast are actions that involves the expulsion of bodily fluids, such as intercourse, vomiting, menstruation and cupping, and actions that involve ingesting matter, such as eating and drinking taking medicines and pills by mouth, or injections of nourishing substances, or blood transfusions.

Injections that are not given to replace food and drink but are used to administer medications such as penicillin and insulin, or tonics, or vaccinations, do not break the fast, regardless of whether they are intra-muscular or intravenous. (Fataawa Ibn Ibraaheem, 4/189). But to be on the safe side, all these injections should be given during the night.

Kidney dialysis, whereby the blood is taken out, cleaned, and put back with some chemicals or nourishing substances such as sugars and salts added, is considered to break the fast.

According to the most correct view, suppositories, eye-drops, ear-drops, having a tooth extracted and treating wounds do not break the fast. Puffers used for asthma do not break the fast, because this is just compressed gas that goes to the lungs – it is not food, and it is needed at all times, in Ramadhan and at other times.

Having a blood sample taken does not break the fast and is permissible because it is something that is needed. Medicines used by gargling do not break the fast so long as they are not swallowed. If a person has a tooth filled and feels the taste of it in his throat, this does not break his fast

The following things do NOT break the fast: Having the ears syringed; nose drops and nasal sprays – so long as one avoids swallowing anything that reaches the throat.

Tablets that are placed under the tongue to treat angina and other conditions - so long as one avoids swallowing anything that reaches the throat.

Dental fillings, tooth extractions, cleaning of the teeth, use of siwaak or toothbrush - so long as one avoids swallowing anything that reaches the throat.

Rinsing, gargling or applying topical mouth sprays - so long as one avoids swallowing anything that reaches the throat.

Subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous injections – except for those used to provide nourishment.

Anaesthetic gases – so long as the patient is not given nourishing solutions.

Medications absorbed through the skin, such as creams and patches used to administer medicine and chemicals.

Insertion of a catheter into veins for diagnostic imaging or treatment of blood vessels in the heart or other organs.

Use of a laparoscope (instrument inserted through a small incision in the abdomen) to examine the abdominal cavity or to perform operations.

Taking biopsies or samples from the liver or other organs – so long as this is not accompanied by the administration of solutions.

Gastroscopy – so long as this is not accompanied by the administration of solutions or other substances.

If a person suffers from a nosebleed, his fast is still valid, because this is something that is beyond his control. (Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 10/264).

It is disliked (makrooh) to taste food unnecessarily, because this carries the risk that the fast may be broken. Examples of cases where it is necessary to taste food include a mother chewing food for an infant when she has no other way to feed him, tasting food to make sure that it is OK, and tasting something when making a purchase. It was reported that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “There is nothing wrong with tasting vinegar or anything that one wishes to buy.”

Using siwaak is Sunnah for the one who is fasting at all times of the day, even if it is wet. If a person who is fasting uses a siwaak and detects some heat or other taste from it and swallows it, or if he takes the siwaak out of his mouth and sees saliva on it then puts it back in his mouth and swallows the saliva, this does not break his fast. (al-Fataawa al-Sa’diyyah, 245). He should avoid any substance that can be diluted, such as the green siwaak, or siwaak that has any extra flavour added to it, like lemon or mint. He should spit out any small pieces that come off the siwaak in his mouth; he should not swallow them deliberately, but if he swallows them accidentally, there is no harm done.

If tears reach one’s throat, or if a person applies oil to his hair or moustache, or uses henna, and then detects the taste of it in his throat, this does not break his fast. Using henna, kohl or oil does not break the fast. This also applies to creams used to moisturize and soften the skin. There is nothing wrong with smelling pleasant fragrances, using perfume or applying scented creams and the like. There is nothing wrong with a fasting person using bukhoor (incense).
Immersing oneself in water or wrapping oneself in wet clothes in order to cool down does not break the fast. There is nothing wrong with pouring water over one’s head to obtain relief from heat and thirst.

Swimming is disliked, because it might make one break the fast (by swallowing water). If a person’s work involves diving and he can be sure that he will not get water in his mouth, there is nothing wrong with this.

If a person eats, drinks or has intercourse, thinking that it is still night, then he realizes that dawn has already broken, there is no harm done, because the aayah clearly states that it is permissible to do these things until one is sure that dawn has come. ‘Abd al-Razzaaq reported with a saheeh isnaad going back to Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: “Allaah has permitted you to eat and drink so long as there is any doubt in your mind.”

And Allah knows best