Fasting is Knocking* [[--Episode Seven--]]

 *Fasting is Knocking*

[[--Episode Seven--]]
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*Making up the Missed Ramadan Fasts*

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

If a person delays making up missed Ramadan fasts until the next Ramadan begins, then if that was for a reason such as sickness, pregnancy or breastfeeding and the like, then he or she does not have to do anything except make up the missed days. But if there was no excuse , then he or she has sinned and must make up for the missed days, but does he or she have to pay a fidyah or not? There is a difference of opinion among the scholars. The majority are of the view that the person must pay back all the missed Ramadan fast and the fidyah must be paid, and it is feeding one poor person for every day.

Now,

IF ONE INTENTIONALLY VIOLATES THE RAMADAN FAST

Intentionally breaking the fast on any day in Ramadan is a major sin in Islam and requires repentance and an “atonement” or “expiation” called kaffarah. An expiation (kaffarah) is a penalty that makes up for a violation. The Shari‘ah difference between the redemption fee (fidyah) and the atonement or expiation (kaffarah) is that the fidyah is an amount paid by someone who has a valid excuse in place of a day of fasting, whereas the kaffarah is a penalty instituted to remedy a violation of a day of Ramadan fasting.

Some scholars are of the opinion that the expiation (kaffarah) is only applicable when one has violated one’s fast by intercourse. Others see the expiation (kaffarah) as necessary for any intentional violation of the fast.

If one does not have the financial capability, then one must fast two consecutive lunar months without break for each fasting day of Ramadan intentionally violated. To be precise, this means that if one deliberately breaks one’s expiating fast at any time during the two fasting months of atonement, one must start their expiating fast of two months over again.

If one is not capable of fasting two consecutive months, then one must feed 60 of those in need for each fasting day intentionally violated. Or, one may feed one needy person 60 meals, or 10 people six times each, or any other combination in which 60 meals are given for each day of Ramadan intentionally violated.

Alternatively, one can give in payment to the hungry 30 sa‘ of food (about 144 lbs.). This food should be what is generally considered by the people of the time and place to be a staple that can be stored without a refrigerator, such as rice, wheat, dried fruit, and the like.

The evidence for this penalty is the following well-known hadith report:

A man came to the Prophet, on him be peace, and said: “I have been destroyed.” The Prophet, on him be peace, asked: “What has destroyed you?” The man said: “I approached my wife [in sexual intercourse] during the daytime in Ramadan.”

The Prophet, on him be peace, said: “Do you have what [wealth] you need to free a slave?”

The man answered: “No.”

The Prophet, on him be peace, then asked: “Are you able to fast two consecutive months?”

The man said: “No.”

The Prophet, on him be peace, asked: “Do you have enough [wealth] to feed 60 of those in need?”

The man said: “No.”

Then he sat down. Then an ‘araq [about 72 lbs.] filled with dates was brought to the Prophet, on him be peace, and he said to the man: “Give this [‘araq] away in charity.”

The man said: “There is not a household between the two lava tracts [of Madinah] more in need than us.”

Then the Prophet, on him be peace, laughed until his incisor teeth showed, and he said to the to man: “Go and feed this to your family.”

[The ‘araq consists of 15 sa‘. Each sa‘ equals four madd, and a madd is what fills two average size hands with the fingers extended. Again, a sa‘ is about 4.8 lbs. So a madd is about 1.2 lbs.]

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TO BE CONTINUED