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SAWM
AL-RAMADAN
(FASTING
THE MONTH OF RAMADAN)
- Types
of Fasting
-
When Does Ramadan Begin and End?
- Different
Locations
- The
End of Ramadan
- The
Hours Decreed for Fasting
- Who
Must Fast
- Making
up the Missed Days
- Paying
a Recompense
- Days
When Fasting Is Forbidden
-
Voluntary Fasts
- The
Predawn Meal and Breaking the Fast
- The
Essential Elements of Fasting
- Avoiding
Unbefitting Actions
- Being
Generous and Doing Other Meritorious Acts
- Permitted
Acts
- Forbidden
Acts Requiring a Make-up Day
- Acts
that Invalidate the Fast and Require a Make-up Day and Expiation
- Places
with Very Long Days and Very Short Nights
- The
Virtue of the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr)
- The
Meaning and Principles of I‘tikaf
- Oaths
- Vows
The fourth pillar of Islam is the Ramadan fast, during which
Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations
or satisfaction from dawn until sunset. Concerning the order
to fast, the Qur’an declares:
The month of Ramadan,
in which the Qur’an (began to be) sent down as a pure source
of guidance for people, and, (when practiced,) as clear
signs of guidance and the Criterion (between truth and falsehood).
Therefore, whoever of you is present at this month must
fast it, and he who is so ill that he cannot fast or is
on a journey must fast the same number of other days. God
desires ease for you, and desires not hardship for you,
so that you can complete the number of the days required,
exalt God for that He has guided you, and it is hoped that
you may give thanks (due to Him). (2:185)
Types
of Fasting
There are two types of fasting: obligatory and voluntary.
Obligatory fasts can be further subdivided into the fast of
Ramadan, the fast of expiation, and the fast of fulfilling
a vow. Here we shall discuss the Ramadan and voluntary fasts.
When
Does Ramadan Begin and End?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
A lunar month is approximately 29.5 days, which is the time
it takes for the moon to orbit Earth. Since a lunar month
is, on average, one day shorter than a solar month, a lunar
year is 10 to 12 days shorter than a solar year. Therefore,
Ramadan comes 10 to 12 days earlier each year and so moves
through the seasons, providing equal conditions for people
living in different lands.
A new lunar month begins
when, during the moon’s orbit around Earth, the moon is in
conjunction with the sun and the sun’s light hits the side
of the moon that is turned away from Earth. In this position,
the moon is said to be a “new moon,” with its dark side turned
toward Earth. By definition, a new moon is not visible from
Earth, as the sun’s light shines only on the side facing Earth.
As the moon continues
to orbit around Earth, it starts to form a crescent. This
will be minutes after the new moon forms, even though the
crescent will not be visible for several hours. In some traditional
Islamic countries, Muslims do not start fasting until they
see the actual crescent. This event is confirmed by sighting
the new moon, even if it is seen by only one person, or by
the passage of 30 days in the immediately preceding month
of Sha‘ban. However, according to some modern scholars, God
has given us scientific knowledge to determine exactly when
a lunar month will begin and end. Therefore, any observatory
or other astronomy-related center should have this information
for the area in which we live.
Fasting starts on the
first dawn of the new month. During the few hours between
the new moon and the following dawn, Muslims can eat and drink,
and then start fasting when the first thread of light is observed
in the sky.
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Different
Locations
Most scholars say that it does not matter if the new moon
has been seen elsewhere. In other words, after the new moon
is seen anywhere in the world, all Muslims must begin fasting.
The
End of Ramadan
The Ramadan fast ends when the new moon (Shawwal) is seen.
Most jurists state that the new moon must have been reported
by at least two just witnesses.
The
Hours Decreed for Fasting
According to the Qur’an, the fasting hours are as follows:
You can eat and drink until you can discern the white streak
(of dawn) against the black streak (of night); then complete
the Fast until night sets in (2:187). Thus, the fast should
start at the first thread of light at dawn (between 1.5 and
2 hours before sunrise, depending on the time of year), and
maintained until sunset (the beginning of night).
Who
Must Fast
All scholars agree that fasting is obligatory upon every sane,
adult, healthy Muslim male who is not traveling or fighting
on a battlefield at that time. As for women, those who are
menstruating or having post-childbirth bleeding cannot fast.
In addition, the following groups of people do not have to
fast: those who are insane, minors, or travelers; pregnant
women who fear that their unborn child might be harmed; the
old and sick who think that fasting might harm them; and those
who work in harsh circumstances or suffer such hunger or thirst
that they fear fasting might result in death.
Making
up the Missed Days
People who are (not chronically) ill and travelers can break
their fast during Ramadan, but must make up the missed days.
If travelers make the intention to fast during the night,
they can still break their fast during the day. If they have
already made the intention to fast while resident but then
decided to travel during the day, most scholars maintain that
they must fast.
Those who have broken
their fast because of harsh circumstances also must make up
the missed days. The scholars agree that menstruating women,
women with post-childbirth bleeding, and pregnant and breast-feeding
women who fear that fasting might harm them or the baby, must
make up the missed days.
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Paying
a Recompense
Those who are too old to fast, as well as the chronically
ill, are permitted to break their fast, for fasting would
place too much hardship on them. However, they must feed one
poor person for each day that they did not fast. If those
who were traveling or had another excuse die before making
up the missed days, no recompense has to be paid. If they
requested their heirs to pay such a recompense, however, the
money should be taken out of the deceased’s estate. If those
who died without making up the missed days, even though they
had enough time to do so, must request their heirs to pay
the necessary recompense.
Days
When Fasting Is Forbidden
All scholars agree that fasting on the two ‘Iyds (‘Iyd
al-Fitr and ‘Iyd al-Adha) is forbidden. It does not matter
if the fast is obligatory or voluntary. Fasting voluntarily
on Friday exclusively is disliked. If one fasts on the day
before or after it, if it is a day on which one customarily
fasts (e.g., the 13th, 14th, or 15th of the month), or if
it is the day of ‘Ashura (Muharram 10), then it is
not disliked to fast on such a Friday. The same rule applies
to Saturday. Fasting on the “day of doubt,” when one is not
sure if it is the last day of Sha‘ban or the first day of
Ramadan, is also disliked, as is fasting on consecutive days
without eating at all (al-wisal).
Voluntary
Fasts
The Messenger exhorted Muslims to fast on the following days:
six days of Shawwal; Muharram 10 (‘Ashura) and the
days immediately preceding and following it; most of Sha‘ban
(the month preceding Ramadan); every Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday during the sacred months (Dhu’l-Qa‘da, Dhu’l-Hijja,
Muharram, Rajab); every Monday and Thursday; and the thirteenth,
fourteenth, and fifteenth days of each month. He also permitted
those who can fast every other day, which is called sawm Dawud
(the fast of Prophet David), to do so.
The
Predawn Meal and Breaking the Fast
Having a predawn meal between the middle of the night and
dawn is sunna (recommended). It is considered best
to delay it so that it will be eaten as close to dawn as possible.
Those who are fasting should hasten to break the fast when
the sun has set and, just before eating, make the following
supplication (highly recommended): “O God, I have fasted for
You, believed in You, placed my trust in You, and break my
fast with Your provisions.”
The
Essential Elements of Fasting
Making the proper intention to fast the month of Ramadan is
required. Preferably, this intention should be made before
dawn and during every night of Ramadan. However, it is valid
if made during any part of the night and can even be made
as late as noon if one forgot to make it before dawn. It does
not have to be spoken out loud, for it is, in reality, an
act of the heart that does not involve the tongue. In addition,
it is fulfilled by one’s intention to fast out of obedience
to God and to seek His pleasure. According to many jurists,
the intention for a voluntary fast can be made until noon.
During the fasting hours,
one cannot eat, drink, or engage in marital sexual relations.
Before the Qur’an’s revelation, married couples could not
engage in sexual intercourse during the fasting period. This
rule was alleviated by 2:187, which allows sexual intercourse
between married couples during the nights of Ramadan:
It is made lawful for you to go in to your wives on the night
of the Fast; (there is such an inalienable intimacy between
you that) they are a garment for you (enfolding you to protect
you against illicit relations and beautifying you,) and you
are a garment (of the same sort) for them. (2:187)
However, it is still forbidden during the fasting hours.
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Avoiding
Unbefitting Actions
Fasting, a type of worship for drawing closer to God, was
ordered to purify the soul and train it in good deeds. Those
who are fasting must guard against any act that might cancel
the benefits of their fast. Thus, their fast will increase
their personal God-consciousness and piety. Fasting is more
than not eating and drinking; it also means to avoid everything
else that God has forbidden. The Messenger said: “Fasting
is not (abstaining) from eating and drinking only, but also
from vain speech and foul language. If one of you is being
cursed or annoyed, he should say: ‘I am fasting, I am fasting.’”
Being
Generous and Doing Other Meritorious Acts
Being generous, studying the Qur’an, and supplicating to God
are recommended at all times, but are especially stressed
during Ramadan. During the last 10 days of Ramadan, God’s
Messenger would wake his wives during the night and then,
remaining apart from them, engage in acts of worship. He would
exert himself in worshipping his Lord during this time more
than he would at any other time. (Bukhari,
“Sawm,” 2:9; Muslim, “Siyam,” 164)
Permitted
Acts
- Pouring water over
oneself and submerging oneself in water.
- Applying kohl, eye-drops,
or anything else to the eyes.
- Kissing, provided
that one has self-control.
- Rinsing the mouth
and nose, without swallowing any water.
- Tasting a liquid,
food, or something else that one wants to buy. However,
anything edible must not be swallowed.
- Chewing gum (unlike
something that has no sweetness or fragrance) is disliked
but does not invalidate the fast.
- Eating, drinking,
or having sexual intercourse during the night until dawn.
- If one eats due to
forgetfulness, the day does not have to be made up later
or expiated.
- Performing ghusl
before dawn is not required, but it is advisable to be pure
before fasting.
- If a woman’s menstrual
or post-childbirth bleeding stops during the night, she
can delay ghusl until the morning and still fasts. However,
she must perform ghusl before the dawn prayer.
- Those who are fasting
can use a tooth stick or a brush to clean their teeth. It
does not matter if this is done at the beginning or at the
end of the day.
- Smelling perfumes.
- Swallowing anything
wet with saliva remaining in the mouth after rising.
- Swallowing only a
few drops of tears and sweat, the taste of which one does
not feel.
- Eating anything edible
remaining between teeth and which is smaller than a chickpea.
- Anything that is
inedible and enters the mouth without intention (e.g., smoke,
dust, and the taste of medicine put on teeth) does not invalidate
the fast.
- Kissing, touching,
and stroking the opposite sex, provided that no ejaculation
occurs, as well as any sexual activity that does not result
in ejaculation. Any ejaculation that is the result of looking
and thinking does not invalidate the fast.
- Having a wet dream
during the day or any ejaculation of seminal fluid.
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Forbidden
Acts Requiring a Make-up Day
- Eating due to a mistake
or coercion.
- Swallowing the blood
more than the saliva with which it is mixed and the taste
of which one feels.
- Swallowing more than
a few drops of tears and sweat the taste of which one feels.
- Removing from the
mouth anything edible that remains between the teeth and
which is greater than a chickpea, and then eating it.
- Vomiting a mouthful.
Anything less and which goes back into the stomach does
not invalidate the fast. However, if one intentionally takes
it back, the fast is broken.
- Ejaculation that
occurs with pleasure by kissing, touching, and masturbation.
- Menses and post-childbirth
bleeding, even if either begins just before sunset.
- If one eats, drinks,
or has intercourse, thinking that the sun has set or that
fajr has not occurred.
- Any injections, whether
for feeding or for medicinal purposes. It does not matter
if the injection was intravenous or underneath the skin,
or whether what was injected reaches the stomach.
- Any drink or medicine
that passes through throat or nose. However, water that
passes through the ears is allowed.
- Any fluid going into
body through the rectum.
Acts
that Invalidate the Fast and Require a Make-up Day
and Expiation
Intentional eating, drinking, and having sexual intercourse
during the day require making up the day and an expiation.
Expiation is defined as freeing a slave if one can do so;
if the person has no slaves or cannot free one for a valid
reason, he or she must fast for 60 consecutive days; if one
cannot do so, he or she must feed a poor person for 60 days
or 60 poor people for one day with meals that are similar
to what one would eat at home.
Most scholars say that
both men and women have to perform acts of expiation if they
intentionally have sexual intercourse during the day even
if they had intended to fast on that day. If they engaged
in it out of forgetfulness, coercion, or having no intention
to fast, they do not have to perform any act of expiation.
If the woman was raped or coerced by the man, only the man
has to make an act of expiation.
All scholars agree that
people who intentionally broke the fast and made expiation,
and then broke it again in a way that requires another expiation,
they must perform another act of expiation. Similarly, they
all agree that if people break the fast twice during a day,
before performing the expiation for the first act, they need
to perform only one act of expiation. If people break their
fast and then repeat it during the same Ramadan without expiation,
they only have to make expiation one time. The reason for
this is because there is a punishment for acts that are repeated,
and if the expiation or punishment is not carried out, all
of these acts are combined into one.
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Places
with Very Long Days and Very Short Nights
Muslims who are in such areas (e.g., close to the polar regions)
should follow the norms of the areas in which the Islamic
legislation took place (e.g., Makka or Madina) or follow the
schedule of the closest area that has “normal” days and nights.
The
Virtue of the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr)
This night is the year’s most virtuous night. God says: We
revealed it (the Qur’an) on the Night of Power [Laylat
al-Qadr]. What will tell you what the Night of Power is?
It is better than a thousand months. (97:1-3) For example,
any action therein (e.g., reciting the Qur’an, remembering
God, performing prayer, coming together to study an Islamic
subject, giving charity, etc.) brings as much reward as would
doing the same action for 1,000 months that do not contain
this night.
It is preferred to seek
this night during the last 10 nights of Ramadan, as the Prophet,
upon whom be peace, strove his best to seek it during that
time. For example, he would stay up during the last 10 nights,
wake his wives, and then stay apart from them in order to
worship. However, according to Abu Hanifa, any night during
the year may be the Night of Power (Canan,
ibid., 1:260), and so Muslims should keep vigils for
some time every night in order to catch it. Such night vigils
have a special importance.
Al-Bukhari records from
Abu Hurayra that the Messenger, upon whom be peace, said:
“Whoever prays during the Night of Power with faith and hoping
for its reward will have all of his or her previous sins forgiven.”
(Bukhari, “Fadl Laylat al-Qadr”)
The
Meaning and Principles of I‘tikaf
I‘tikaf literally means to stick to something, whether good
or bad, and to block out everything else. As a term, it denotes
devoting oneself, especially during the last 10 days of Ramadan,
to praying in a mosque. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings, performed i‘tikaf for 10 days every Ramadan.
In the year that he died, he performed it for 20 days.
I‘tikaf is not
acceptable from an unbeliever, a non-discerning child, a person
requiring major purification because of (sexual) defilement,
and a menstruating woman and a woman with post-childbirth
bleeding.
I‘tikaf will be fulfilled if a person stays in the mosque
with the intention of becoming closer to God. If these conditions
are not met, it is not i‘tikaf. If an individual intends
to perform a voluntary i‘tikaf but ends it before the
10-day period has ended, he or she must make up the remaining
days later.
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Oaths
Making an oath means to swear by God that one will not do
something. In Islam, one can swear only by God. People who
make such an oath must do their best to fulfill it, and so
should not make one carelessly.
People who make false
statements by mistake or unknowingly, and then swear to them
by God, are not held responsible for them and do not have
make any expiation. However, consciously lying and then swearing
by God or declaring God as a witness to the lie is an extremely
grave sin that many times has resulted in misfortune descending
upon the liar. Such people must perform an act of expiation,
earnestly seek God’s forgiveness, and repair any damage caused
by the lie.
If people swear by God
not to do something in the future and then do that very act,
they must seek God’s forgiveness and make an expiation. In
this case, this involves emancipating a slave. If this is
not possible, the oath-breaker must feed a poor person for
10 days with meals that are similar to what his family eats.
If this is not possible, he or she must fast for 10 consecutive
days.
Vows
A vow is a solemn promise to do, in God’s name, something
that resembles an act of worship and make obligatory upon
oneself that which is not obligatory. A vow is considered
“Islamic” only if it is made in God’s name and involves an
obligatory or necessary act of worship (e.g., to fast or help
the poor). Therefore, one can vow to perform two rak‘ats of
prayer or fast, but not to make a prostration of recitation
or perform ablution, for these latter two acts are not obligatory
acts of worship in themselves but rather are the means to
such acts. Also, vows can be made concerning only that which
can be fulfilled.
There are two kinds
of vows: appointed and unappointed. An appointed vow can be,
for example, vowing to fast on a certain day if one’s desire
for something religiously lawful is met. If the desired thing
happens, the vow must be fulfilled. An unappointed vow can
be, for example, a vow to fast for one day or to give charity
to the poor if one’s desire for something religiously lawful
is met. If the desired thing happens, the vow must be fulfilled.
If one vows to do something
resembling an act of worship if something does not occur,
he or she must either fulfill the vow or make an expiation.
For example, if one addicted to lying vows to fast for a week
if he or she does not lie again, but then does so, he or she
either has to fulfill the vow or make an expiation like that
made for broken oaths.
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