I have never been so confused over fasting before; pls answer!

[Zobia]

salam alaikum,

So its known if a person INTENTIONALLY breaks their fast (by having intercouse during fasting etc) they are to either fast 60 days or feed 60 poor people right?
Ok, well what is the ruling on a person who DELIBERATELY did not fast in the month of ramadan? What are they to do? There was a time when i never fasted on purpose bcs i didnt know how to pray and i knew fasting without prayer is invalid so thats why i never fasted that time. So since i deliberately missed those fasts how am i to make up for them? Also, if a person didnt fast out of laziness in the month of ramadan how are they to make up for it?

Do i have to fast 60 consecutive days or feed 60 poor? I cannot afford to pay to feed 60 poor bcs i checked it out and its £240 PER MISSED FAST; i swear i would never have enough to pay for EACH missed fast if its £240 per fast.. i've never been able to raise so much money in my life so thats impossible for me to do! So now i think the only solution left is to fast 60 days.

This is where i need help - if i fasted 60 consecutive days would that be enough to COVER ALL THE INTENTIONALLY MISSED FASTS IN MY LIFE UP TILL NOW or do i have for fast 60 consecutive days FOR EACH INTENTIONALLY MISSED FAST? e.g. fast 60 days for the 1st intentionally missed fast and same for the 2nd and so on..

Provide authentic evidence pls from quran and sunnah bcs i'm receiving a lot of fatwas and idk if they're reliable or not i just need the authentic evidence from the prophet's sunnah since thats what we need to follow; i've never been so confused about fasting in my entire life and i feel like giving up! :/

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

salam alaikum,

So its known if a person INTENTIONALLY breaks their fast (by having intercouse during fasting etc) they are to either fast 60 days or feed 60 poor people right?
Ok, well what is the ruling on a person who DELIBERATELY did not fast in the month of ramadan? What are they to do? There was a time when i never fasted on purpose bcs i didnt know how to pray and i knew fasting without prayer is invalid so thats why i never fasted that time. So since i deliberately missed those fasts how am i to make up for them? Also, if a person didnt fast out of laziness in the month of ramadan how are they to make up for it?

Do i have to fast 60 consecutive days or feed 60 poor? I cannot afford to pay to feed 60 poor bcs i checked it out and its £240 PER MISSED FAST; i swear i would never have enough to pay for EACH missed fast if its £240 per fast.. i've never been able to raise so much money in my life so thats impossible for me to do! So now i think the only solution left is to fast 60 days.

This is where i need help - if i fasted 60 consecutive days would that be enough to COVER ALL THE INTENTIONALLY MISSED FASTS IN MY LIFE UP TILL NOW or do i have for fast 60 consecutive days FOR EACH INTENTIONALLY MISSED FAST? e.g. fast 60 days for the 1st intentionally missed fast and same for the 2nd and so on..

Provide authentic evidence pls from quran and sunnah bcs i'm receiving a lot of fatwas and idk if they're reliable or not i just need the authentic evidence from the prophet's sunnah since thats what we need to follow; i've never been so confused about fasting in my entire life and i feel like giving up! :/

Expiation (kaffara) only becomes necessary upon an individual if a fast was broken deliberately (without a valid excuse) after actually starting it by eating, drinking or having sexual intercourse. As such, if a fast of Ramadan was not kept altogether, then although one will be sinful for not fasting, an expiation will not be necessary, rather one will be obliged to make up for the missed fasts.

Source: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=4566&CATE=172


So in your case since you have not broken any fasts but just did not keep them then no expiation is required but you are required to make up for all the fasts you have missed from puberty until now including the times you could not fast as you were on your periouds, if you have not already made up for those. You should do this by making a conservative estimate of the amount of fastsa you have missed from puberty until now and then you may fast them after Ramadan. You do not have to fast them altogether as you may spread them out.

And Allah knows best in all matters

 

[Zobia]

not to be rude but that link you posted the sunni path qa one that explains your answer, is that authentic? Bcs on it it says that if a person swallowed water unintentionally the fast has to be made up.. but the majority view on that is if a person does that unintentionally then they must continue fasting since it was unintentional and that it was Allah who gave them food and drink but they should continue fastin anyway.^o)

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

not to be rude but that link you posted the sunni path qa one that explains your answer, is that authentic? Bcs on it it says that if a person swallowed water unintentionally the fast has to be made up.. but the majority view on that is if a person does that unintentionally then they must continue fasting since it was unintentional and that it was Allah who gave them food and drink but they should continue fastin anyway.^o)

Sister there are many differences of opinion in fiqhi matters within the madhabs. It does not mean that one is right or wrong or if one has this view or that view which may not conform to our desires or the scholar/s that we follow then they are not authentic. That is a gross misunderstanding of fiqh. In fiqh there may be two or three opinions on a particular matter and they all may have evidences and be correct in their own way. Differences of opinion are a blessing and mercy for the Ummah as they give us a 360 degree perspective of a particular issue or matter. So we should respect the differences of opinion with regars to fiqhi matters.

This particular opinion on the fiqhi matter you brought up states that a person who was "aware" that they were fasting but accidently swallowed water by mistake will have to make up for the fast after Ramadan but they will not be sinning as it was an accident but their fast will break as a "penalty" for not taking care with water whilst fasting because whislt we are fasting we do not have to gargle any water thoroughly in Wudu or Ghusl for example, so there should be no reason for the water to pass through our throats. So you could say the fast breaks as a penalty for the carelessness of the person and is a deterrant in order to make us very careful whilst gargling water. Otherwise a person may become complacent with water but if they know that it may break their fast if it accidently goes down their throat then they will be very careful not to break their fast by being careless with the water. But if one was to completely forget that one is fasting and swallow water then that is a completely different matter and the fast does not break in such a situation.

And Allah knows best in all matters

 

[Abz2000]

i ate an olive the other day in Makkah about 3 minutes before iftar, was draining the brine and just put it in my mouth and munched away happily until i came back to the sufra where we were laying out our food and realised i was fasting lol, but it's ok i think since it was due to heedlessness:

9. There is No Harm in Eating and Drinking Forgetfully:
Abu Hurairah Radiyallahu Anh narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: He who eats and drinks forgetting that he is fasting, let him continue observing fasting, for it is Allah Who gave him to eat and drink." (Bukhari 1933). (Source: Summarized Sahih Muslim, Volume 1, Hadith 587)

 

[Scimitar]

^ a level head, makes for a strong heart, masha-Allah

Scimi