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Muslims
all over the world wait eagerly for Ramadan, as it is a time of increased inner
peace and well-being
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Fasting in the month of Ramadan is obligatory
upon every Muslim, male or female, who is adult (i.e., has reached puberty) and
sane and who is not sick or on a journey.
Sickness could be a temporary sickness from
which a person expects to be cured soon. Such a person is allowed not to fast
during the days of his/her sickness, but he/she must fast later after Ramadan to
complete the missed days. Those who are sick with incurable illness and expect
no better health are also allowed not to fast but they must pay the fidyah,
which is giving a day’s meals for each fast missed to a needy person. One can
also give instead the money for meals to a needy person. Women in their menses
and post-natal bleeding are not allowed to fast, but they must make up later
after Ramadan. If pregnant women and mothers who are nursing babies find it
difficult to fast, they can also postpone their fasting to a later time when
they are in a better condition.
A journey according to the Shari‘ah is any
journey that takes you away from your city of residence, a minimum of 48 miles
or 80 kilometers. The journey must be for a good cause. It is a sin to travel in
Ramadan in order to avoid fasting. A Muslim should try to change his/her plans
during Ramadan to be able to fast and should not travel unless it is necessary.
The traveler who misses the fasts of Ramadan must make up those missed days
later as soon as possible after Ramadan.
B) Fasting According to the Sunnah
1)
Take sahur (pre-dawn meal). It is Sunnah
and there is a great reward and blessing in taking sahur. The best time
for sahur is the last half hour before dawn or the time for Fajr prayer.
2)
Take iftar (break-fast) immediately after
sunset.
Shari
‘ah considers sunset when the disk of the sun goes below the horizon and
disappears completely.
3)
During the fast, abstain from all false talks and
deeds. Do not quarrel, have disputes, indulge in arguments, use bad words, or do
anything that is forbidden. You should try to discipline yourself morally and
ethically, besides gaining physical training and discipline. You should also not
make a show of your fasting by talking too much about it, or by showing dry lips
and a hungry stomach, or by showing a bad temper. The fasting person must be a
pleasant person with good spirits and good cheer.
4)
During the fast, do acts of charity and goodness
to others and increase your worship and reading of the Qur’an. Every Muslim
should try to read the whole Qur’an at least once during the month of Ramadan.
C) Things That Invalidate the Fast
You must avoid doing anything that may render
your fast invalid. Things that invalidate the fast and require qadaa’
(making up for these days) are the following:
1)
Eating, drinking or smoking deliberately,
including taking any non-nourishing items by mouth, nose or anus.
2)
Deliberately causing yourself to vomit.
3)
The beginning of menstrual or post-childbirth
bleeding even in the last moment before sunset.
4)
Sexual intercourse or other sexual contact (or
masturbation) that results in ejaculation (in men) or vaginal secretions
(orgasm) in women.
5)
Eating, drinking, smoking or having sexual
intercourse after Fajr (dawn) on the mistaken assumption that it is not Fajr
time yet. Similarly, engaging in these acts before Maghrib (sunset) on the
mistaken assumption that it is already Maghrib time.
Sexual intercourse during fasting is
forbidden and is a great sin. Those who engage in it must make both qadaa’
(make up the fasts) and kaffarah (expiation by fasting for 60 days after
Ramadan or by feeding 60 poor people for each day of fast broken in this way).
According to Imam Abu Hanifah, eating and/or drinking deliberately during fast
also entail the same qadaa’ and kaffarah.
D) Things That Do Not Invalidate Fasting
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Using
a miswak to clean your teeth does not invalidate fasting
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During fast, the following things are
permissible:
1)
Taking a bath or shower. If water is swallowed
involuntarily it will not invalidate the fast. According to most of the jurists,
swimming is also allowed in fasting, but one should avoid diving, because that
will cause the water to go from the mouth or nose into the stomach.
2)
Using perfumes, wearing contact lenses or using
eye drops.
3)
Taking injections or having a blood test.
4)
Using miswak (tooth-stick) or toothbrush
(even with tooth paste) and rinsing the mouth or nostrils with water, provided
it is not overdone (so as to avoid swallowing water).
5)
Eating, drinking or smoking unintentionally, i.e.,
forgetting that one was fasting. But one must stop as soon as one remembers and
should continue one’s fast.
6)
Sleeping during the daytime and having a wet-dream
does not break one’s fast. Also, if one has intercourse during the night and
was not able to make ghusl (bathe) before dawn, he/she can begin fast and
make ghusl later. Women whose menstruation stops during the night may
begin fasting even if they have not made ghusl yet. In all these cases,
bathing (ghusl) is necessary but fast is valid even without bathing.
7)
Kissing between husband and wife is allowed in
fasting, but one should try to avoid it so that one may not do anything further
that is forbidden during the fast.
E) Requirements for Fasting to Be Valid
There are basically two main components of
fasting:
1)
The intention (niyyah) for fasting. One
should make a sincere intention to fast for the sake of Allah every day before
dawn. The intention need not be in words, but must be with the sincerity of the
heart and mind. Some jurists are of the opinion that the intention can be made
once only for the whole month and does not have to be repeated every day. It is,
however, better to make intention every day to take full benefit of fasting.
2)
Abstaining from dawn to dusk from everything that
invalidates fasting. This point has been explained in detail in the preceding
sections.
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The author is the imam and director of the Islamic Society of Orange County,
California, USA and former president of the Islamic Society of North America.
This article originally appeared in the Fatwa Corner of IslamOnline.
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