Recap on rulings of Ramadan

Amal Al-Sibai The blessed month of Ramadan is only a couple days away, when Muslims all over the world will observe the fast for thirty days, from sunrise to sunset. Each year, questions are raised even amongst Muslims ourselves as to who is exempt from fasting, what nullifies the fast, and how do I make it up? Different situations may arise which will require you to ask someone of knowledge, but Shaykh Yasir Qadhi summarized some of the general rulings of Ramadan which you may find helpful. Who is exempt from the fast? Children of course are not obligated to fast. A Muslim must start fasting as soon as he/she reaches puberty, and this varies from person to person. The insane are not obligated to fast. When women are experiencing menstrual bleeding and post-natal bleeding (after childbirth), not only are they exempt from the fast but it is not permissible for them to fast. After reading much on the physiological and hormonal changes that occur in the women’s body during menstruation, I have come to realize that it is from the mercy of Allah that a woman must break her fast during those days. During menstruation, a woman’s body requires fluids and nutrients, especially magnesium, iron, and folic acid. The hormonal changes during menstruation cause many physical and emotional symptoms such as bloating, breast tenderness, lower back pain, fatigue, feelings of anxiety, irritability, and depression, cramps, nausea, diarrhea or constipation, and in some cases vomiting. The fast would be taxing on the woman’s body at this time. The days missed during Ramadan due to menstrual or post-natal bleeding should be tallied up and she must fast an equivalent amount of days throughout the year and before the next Ramadan begins. Travelers are allowed to break the fast when they are actually embarking on their journey. Even if you feel that the travel is not cumbersome; it is a short flight and you’re not carrying a whole lot of baggage, still you may break the fast. Allah has made the religion easy for us. The fast must be made up after Ramadan by fasting the number of days missed.      The ill are not required to fast. There are two categories for sickness. The first is a temporary ailment, for example a high fever, bronchitis, a severe flu, or a condition that is making the person ill but will be resolved within a matter of days. If fasting would exacerbate the illness and the person is unable to fast, then he/she may break the fast to drink fluids, take medications and herbal remedies, and eat nourishing foods. To atone for the days missed, you would simply fast the missed days after Ramadan.     The second category is chronic disease or a health condition that is long-lasting and there is no sign of a cure in the near future. It would be extremely difficult for a person suffering from cancer or someone who is very old and feeble to fast. In their case, they are permitted to break the fast, even if it meant for the entire month of Ramadan. Since it is a chronic illness and physical weakness which prevented them from fasting during Ramadan, they do not make it up by fasting other days after Ramadan. Rather they must feed a poor person an average, filling meal of the staple foods in their country for each day they missed. For a sick person who could not fast at all during Ramadan, she could feed thirty poor people on one day or alternatively she could feed one poor person every day for thirty days. The method she chooses does not matter, what matters is that she gives thirty meals in charity.    Pregnant and breastfeeding women are also permitted to break the fast if the fast is too strenuous on their bodies or if it will cause harm to the baby. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor. If both you and baby are healthy, you may try fasting and monitor how you feel and count the fetus’s movements to make sure the fast does not negatively affect you or the baby. The days missed due to pregnancy or breastfeeding must be made up as soon as you are able to fast, and you are not required to donate food. What acts invalidate the fast during the fasting hours in Ramadan? During the fast, Muslims are obligated to abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse. Therefore, it is obvious that to eat, drink, or engage in sexual intercourse would nullify the fast, and one should repent, seek forgiveness from Allah, and also expiate for intentionally breaking the fast. If you were in such a situation, I advise that you ask a scholar on the expiation for deliberately breaking the fast, as some say it can be expiated by making up the missed day but you must also either free a slave or fast continuously for 60 consecutive days or feed the poor 60 meals. As for other matters, there is a difference of opinion because it is not very clear cut. Some scholars have permitted those with asthma to use the inhaler because the mist from the inhaler reaches the lungs and is not ingested to the stomach. Based on that, eye drops are also permissible. An injection is permissible as long as it is not a nutrient. For example, a glucose solution injection would nullify the fast and require you to make it up but an injection of a certain medication would not break the fast, but again when doubt, ask someone who has knowledge. Vomiting deliberately would invalidate your fast and you must make it up. However, if you vomited unintentionally then you may continue the fast if you are able to and you do not need to make it up after Ramadan.   That is a summary on some of the rulings of Ramadan, but it is always good to attend a lecture or speak to a scholar to reinforce our knowledge of these rulings. The night before the first day of Ramadan, we must remember to make the intention to fast the entire month of Ramadan.