Ilmu (Knowledge)

(BASIC knowledge of Ramadhan)

For new Muslims and those who don’t know

Who must Fast:

Fasting is obligatory on every Muslim who;

1. has reached puberty;
2. is sane;
3. and if female, is not in the period of menstruation or past natal bleeding (nifas).

A non-Muslim is not expected to fast or someone whom fasting exhausts because of advanced years or having an illness from which he is unlikely to recover.

Note: A child should be encouraged to fast when they reach the age of 7 but it doesn’t become fard upon them until they reach puberty.

Who has to make up their fasts:

• Children, non-Muslim ie. someone who become Muslim, and the insane do not have to make up their fasts as they are not in a position to understand the legality of the fast.
• In the case of the situation for one of the three categories outlined above changing IE. child reaches puberty, person regains sanity or person converts to Islam during a fasting day then it is recommended of the fast and make up the day later.
• Females in either of the two situations mentioned above are legally obliged to make up their fasts.
• It is permissible for those who are traveling not to fast even when the intention to fast has been made before, provided:

1. that the journey is at least 81KM one way and,
2. that one leaves town before down.

• It is preferable for travelers not to fast if this would harm them though if not then fasting is better.
• A person who leaves Islam and returns is obliged to make up their fasts.
• A woman who is breast-feeding or is pregnant may omit the fast if she fears harm on herself or her baby. If she fears harm on her baby not on herself then she is required to pay 0.51 liters of food (enough food for one person) in charity for each day missed.
• A person who doesn’t fast because are old or sick and feel that the fast would be detrimental to their condition is required to make up the fast if their condition improves.
• in the case of a woman’s bleeding stopping during the day the woman is recommended to complete the day’s fast and is obliged to make up the day and the preceding days that she has missed.
• Excessive hunger or thirst, meaning likely to cause death or illness are legitimate excuses no to fast even if one has begun to fast.

When does it become compulsory to begin fasting in Ramandhan

Ramadhan is a month in the Islamic calendar preceded by sha’ban and followed by shawal. The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, with the new moon representing the beginning of the next month and the end of the preceding month. The Islamic day begins at sunset; therefore the Islamic months begin at maghrib when the new moon is sighted. Ramadhan begins therefore at maghrib when the new moon of Ramadhan is sighted and fasting begins the following day.

Sighting of the moon.

If you sight the new moon of Ramadhan then fasting has become obligatory on you for the following day. If you do not sight it yourself then it becomes obligatory when the sighting is established by the testimony of an upright witness. If it is too overcast to be seen then Sha’ban is presumed to last for thirty days, after which people begin fasting Ramadhan. If the new moon is seen in one part of a region but not in another then Ramadhan should begin in both places.

If say you are in prison and unable to tell wether the new moon has come in fact even if you can’t tell whether it is Ramadhan at all then it ia permissible to guess based on intuition. Such a person is obliged to reckon Ramadan as best he can and to fast it. This is still valid unless the month fasted was before Ramadan.

The conditions of a valid fast

• Intention
• Refraining from things that invalidate the fast

1. Intention

The intention should be made during the night (before Imsaak) prior to the day that will be fasted. The intention must be specific (whether it’s Ramadhan, a vow or nafl fast). The optimal way is to intend to fast the following day as a current performance of the obligation of Ramadhan in the present year for Allah most high. There are several du’a used to make this intention. If you are unsure whether the next day is Ramadhan (ie. it’s the end of sha’ban or the beginning of Shawal) make intention that if the next day is Ramadhan then you will fast and if not then you won’t.

Nafl fasts are valid by merely making the intention before noon.

Things which invalidate the fast

The following things invalidate a days fast provided that one is aware that these things are unlawful, that they are not done under duress, and the one remembers that he/she is fasting.

1. Eating
2. Drinking and Smoking
3. A substance, even if not much that reaches the body cavity through and open passageway (eg. Nasal spray).
4. Sexual intercourse or orgasm as a result of masturbation.
5. Vomiting if it is deliberate and one is able to prevent it.
6. Continuing to make love after dawn has arrived
7. Swallowing saliva that has been qualitatively altered the example being when one brushes one’s teeth one should make sure that his mouth has been properly cleaned.
8. Differences over phlegm shafis hold that mucus should not be swallowed if it can be spitted out and hanafis hold that this doesn’t break the fast.

Things that don’t break the fast

1. Involuntary vomiting
2. having a wet dream
3. Some water reaching the body cavity as a result of rinsing out the mouth or nose, provided not much water was used.
4. Saliva carrying down some food particles from between one’s teeth, provided this is after having cleaned between them, if one is unable to spit them out;
5. Swallowing saliva that has not been altered by blood or something else if it has not left the mouth.

NOTE:  When dawn arrives one must immediately spit out any food or drink in one’s mouth and disengage in making love. If one eats thinking that it is night presuming (but uncertain) that the sun has set and the question remains unresolved then he must make up the fast. If one eats presuming that dawn has not yet come but the question remains unresolved he does not need to make up the fast. the difference between the two examples is that in the first example the original state is night and therefore it is the onus is on the person to verify whether this has changed, in the second example because he has presumed that it isn’t yet he has taken the initial certainty that it was night.

Involuntary acts that invalidate the fast

A fast-day is invalidated by

1. Insanity, even for a moment;
2. Being unconscious the entire day;
3. or the appearances of menstrual or post natal flow.

Note: that only the insane person out of these is not required to make up the day’s fast.

Recommended measures whilst fasting

A predawn meal called sahur is recommended as it is sunnah even if it is a slight or consists of water alone. the time for sahoor begins from the middle of the night to just before dawn. it is preferable to delay sahoor to just before dawn. the time that a person should stop eating is a few minutes before fajr and is known as imsaak.

It is best to break fast as soon as possible after one has ascertained that the sun has set. it is sunnah that One should break it with an odd number of dates, though if one has none then water is best.

It is recommended in Ramadhan:

1. To be especially generous ie. in giving charity;
2. to improve one’s relationship with family and friends;
3. To recite the qu’r'an much
4. To spend periods of retreat in the mosque especially during the last ten days of Ramadhan;
5. To break the fast of others after sunset, even if only with water -from the hadeeth: He who breaks another’s fast earns the same reward as the one who fasted without diminishing the latter’s reward the slightest."
6. and if in a state of  major ritual impurity to perform ghusl before dawn

Note: it is recommended to avoid slander during Ramadhan and it is offensive to taste food.

Making up missed fast days and the expiation for deliberately breaking ones fast without a legal dispensation.

Someone obliged to make up some fast days is recommended to do so consecutively and immediately. it is not permissible to delay the making up of missed fasts until the next Ramadhan if this happens then the person is required to pay 0.51 litres of food to the poor for each fast-day missed in addition to making it up. if making up a fast day is delayed until a second ramadhan then one must pay double and so on. if someone dies with unperformed fast days which he could of performed but didn’t then each fast day is paid for with 0.51 litres of food.

If someone deliberately breaks a fast either because of sexual intercourse or in the Hanafi school for some other reason then the person has to make up for the action by freeing a sound muslim slave, or if not possible , then to feed 60 poor people.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Ramadhan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.