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1
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- How the Beginning of Ramadan is Determined
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2
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- Using calculations to determine the onset of Ramadan is bid’ah, because
the hadeeth of the Prophet (SA) clearly states:
- “Fast when you see it (the new moon) and break your fast when you see
it.”
- If an adult, sane, trustworthy,
reliable Muslim who has good eyesight says that he has seen the crescent
with his own eyes, then we should take his word for it and act
accordingly (i.e., start fasting).
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3
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4
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- Every adult, sane, settled [i.e., not traveling] Muslim who is able to
fast and has nothing such as hayd [menstruation] or nifaas [post-natal
bleeding] to prevent him or her from doing so
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5
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- Emission of semen, whether in a wet dream or otherwise;
- Growth of coarse pubic hair around the private parts;
- Attainment of fifteen years of age.
- In the case of females, there is a fourth, namely menstruation; when a
girl reaches menarche (starts her periods), she is obliged to fast even
if she has not yet reached the age of ten.
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6
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- Children should be instructed to fast at the age of seven, if they are
able to, and some scholars said that a child may be smacked at the age
of ten if he does not fast, just as in the case of salaah.
- “We used to make our children fast, and we would make them a toy made
out of wool. If any one of them started to cry for food, we would give
them that toy to play with until it was time to break the fast.”
- (al-Bukhaari, )
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7
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- “O you who believe! Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire
(hell) whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels
stern (and) severe, who disobey not, (from executing) the Commands they
receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.”
- [al-Tahreem 66:6].
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- If a kaafir becomes Muslim, or a child reaches puberty, or an insane
person comes to his senses during the day, they should refrain from
eating for the rest of the day, because they are now among those who are
obliged to fast, but they do not have to make up for the days of Ramadan
that they have missed, because at that time they were not among those
who are obliged to fast.
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- The insane are not responsible for their deeds (their deeds are not
being recorded), but if a person is insane at times and sane at other
times, he must fast during his periods of sanity, and is excused during
his periods of insanity. If he becomes insane during the day, this does
not invalidate his fast, just as is the case if someone becomes
unconscious because of illness or some other reason, because he had the
intention of fasting when he was sane
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10
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- If someone dies during Ramadan, there is no “debt” on him or his heirs
with regard to the remaining days of the month.
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- If someone does not know that it is fard (obligatory) to fast Ramadan,
or that it is haraam to eat or have sexual intercourse during the day in
this month, then according to the majority of scholars, this excuse is
acceptable, as is also the case for a new convert to Islam, a Muslim
living in Daar al-Harb (non-Muslim lands) and a Muslim who grew up among
the kuffaar. But a person who grew up among the Muslims and was able to
ask questions and find out, has no excuse.
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12
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- As they Relate to certain circumstances
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13
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- For a traveler to be allowed to break his fast, certain conditions must
be met. His journey should be lengthy (although there is a well-known
difference of opinion among the scholars on this matter), and should go
beyond the city and its suburbs.
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14
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- A journey has not really begun until a person passes the city limits,
and a person who is still in the city is “settled” and “present”.
- Thus the fast can not be broken until one leaves the city limits
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15
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- “… So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the
month (of Ramadaan, i.e., is present at his home), he must observes sawm
(fasts) that month…” [al-Baqarah 2:185]
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- The traveler is allowed to break his fast, according to the consensus of
the ummah, whether he is able to continue fasting or not, and whether is
it difficult for him to fast or not.
- Even if his journey is easy and he has someone to serve him, he is still
permitted to break his fast and shorten his prayers.
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- Whoever is determined to travel in Ramadan should not have the intention
of breaking his fast until he is actually traveling, because something
may happen to prevent him from setting out on his journey
- The traveler should not break his fast until he has passed beyond the
inhabited houses of his town; once he has passed the city limits, he may
break his fast.
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- If the sun sets and he breaks his fast on the ground, then the plane
takes off and he sees the sun, he does not have to stop eating, because
he has already completed his day’s fasting, and there is no way to
repeat an act of worship that is finished.
- If the plane takes off before sunset and he wants to complete that day’s
fasting during the journey, he should not break his fast until the sun
has set from wherever he is in the air.
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- Whoever travels to a place and intends to stay there for more than four
days must fast, according to the majority of scholars.
- If a traveler passes through a city other than his own, he does not have
to fast, unless his stay there is longer than four days, in which case
he must fast, because the rulings that apply to those who are settled
apply also to him
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- “… and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days on which
one did not observe sawm must be made up] from other days…”
- [al-Baqarah 2:185]
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- A person who habitually travels is permitted not to fast if he has a
home to which he returns, such as a courier who travels to serve the
interests of the Muslims (and also taxi drivers, pilots and airline
employees, even if their travel is daily – but they have to make up the
fasts later).
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- If he starts Ramadan in one city, then travels to another city where the
people started fasting before him or after him, then he should follow
the ruling governing the people to whom he has traveled, so he should
only end Ramadan when they end Ramadan, even if it means that he is
fasting for more than thirty days, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
- “Fast when everyone is fasting, and break your fast when everyone is
breaking their fast.”
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23
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Notes
