Fasting in Ramadan: In the holy month of Ramadan Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. These are obligatory fasts that one cannot miss without any valid reason. One is not allowed to eat or drink during fasting hours.
Book 6, Number 2379:
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Observe fast on sighting it (the new moon) and break (fast) on sighting it (the new moon), but if the sky is cloudy for you, then complete the number (of thirty).
Valid Reasons For Missing Ramadan Fasts Are:
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, menses, sickness, and travel are the conditions in which a person is allowed to miss a fast. But in these conditions, the missed fasts need to make up on other days. And no Fidya (Redemption fee) is there for this category.
The following ayah is proof of this:
“Yet if one among you is sick or is on a journey [such a person shall then fast] the same number of other days” (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:185).
- Another category is for people with infirmity due to old age or a chronic illness. These people have to pay Fidya and do not have to make up the fasts.
The redemption fee is measured in terms of Sa’. It is half Sa’ of food eaten normally by people who live in the same area. 1 Sa’ of grain is equal to 2.17 kg. So, every missed fast one have feed a needy person with one Sa’ of Food.
Related: Know the Importance of Ramadan
Missing a Fast Intentionally During Ramadan:
Deliberately missing a Ramadan fast without a valid reason is a Major Sin and one must repent for it.
Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said:
“The ummah is unanimously agreed, and all the scholars narrated, concerning one who does not fast Ramadan deliberately, although he believes that it is obligatory, and he only failed to fast it out of negligence and arrogance, then he repented from that, that he must make up (the days he missed). (Al-Istidhkar, 1/77)
Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi said:
“We do not know of any difference of opinion concerning that, because fasting is a proven responsibility, and it cannot be discharged except by doing it, but if he does not do it, it remains due from him.” (Al-Mughni, 4/365)
In Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Daimah (10/143) it says:
“Whoever does not fast because he denies that it is obligatory is a disbeliever, according to scholarly consensus. Whoever does not do it because he is lazy and heedless is not a disbeliever, but he is in grave danger because he has omitted one of the pillars of Islam, on which there is scholarly consensus that it is obligatory, and he deserves to be punished and disciplined by the authorities in a manner that will deter him and others like him. In fact, some scholars are of the view that he is to be deemed a disbeliever.
He has to make up the days that he did not fast, and also repent to Allah, may He be glorified.”
Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
What is the ruling on someone who broke the fast in Ramadan without a legitimate excuse, and he is approximately seventeen years old, and has no excuse? What should he do? Does he have to make up for the missed fasts?
He said:
“Yes, he has to make up for the missed fasts, and he has to repent to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, for his carelessness and breaking of the fast.
With regard to what was narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), that he said: “Whoever breaks the fast on one day in Ramadan, with no concession and no sickness, fasting an entire lifetime will not make up for it, even if he fasts it” – this is a da‘if hadith according to the scholars, and is not sahih.” (Fatawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb, 16/201)
Kaffara:
It is a must for one to do Kaffara if he deliberately missed this fard fast. Kaffara is nothing but compensation for the missed fast.
One must fast for two consecutive months without a break if they are not financially sound. Or else they must feed 60 needy persons. Or one may feed one needy person for 60 days.
