Lesson 26: The Lows of Fasting (2)

A – Atonement of Fasting (Kaffārah)

If a person intentionally and knowingly commits acts that invalidate fast, his fast becomes void, and he must also fast its qaḍā and pay its atonement (Kaffārah). The atonement for breaking the fast (ifṭār) in the month of Ramaḍān is one of three things:

1. To free an enslaved person;
2. To Fast for two months;
3. Feeding sixty poor people (fuqarāʾ) or giving them a Mudd (approximately 750 grams) of food, such as wheat, barley, bread, and the like (Issue 1704).

One: Cases Where Both Qaḍāʾ and Kaffārah Are Obligatory

1. If someone performs things that invalidate the fast of the month of Ramaḍān, intentionally and knowingly, his fast is invalid, and both Qaḍāʾ and atonement become obligatory on him (Issue 1702).
2. If a person does not know the things that invalidate the fast and performs it, the Kaffārah is not obligatory for him, but he must perform Qaḍāʾ (Issue 1703).
3. If not knowing the rule is due to the fault of man, according to caution, atonement is obligatory on him (Issue 1703).
4. If a fasting person burps and something comes up in his mouth, if he swallows it intentionally, his fast is invalid, and Qaḍāʾ and Kaffārah become obligatory on him (Issue 1715).
5. If a person intentionally does not fast during

Ramaḍān, he must perform the Qaḍāʾof it and, for each day, fast for two months, or feed sixty poor people, or free a slave (Issue 1754).

Two: The Collective Kaffārah

If a person breaks his fast with something Ḥarām, the collective Kaffārah (all three types of Kaffārah) becomes obligatory on him, i.e., one must free an enslaved person, fast for two months and feed sixty poor people

(Issue 1709).

Three: When Only Qaḍā Is Obligatory

Qaḍā of the fast is mandatory only in the following cases, and the Kaffārah is not obligatory:

1. A junub person who sleeps during a night of Ramaḍān and does not wake up from the second sleep until the Adhān of morning prayer must perform Qaḍā of the fast;
2. If the person does not perform an act that invalidates a fast but does not make the intention to fast, pretends to fast, or intends not to fast;
3. People who forget to perform Ghusl of Janābat during Ramaḍān but have fasted for one day or several days in the state of Janābat;
4. A person performs something that invalidates the fast in Ramaḍān , without investigating whether the time for morning prayers has set in or not; afterward, it is discovered that morning prayers have begun;
5. If someone says the time of morning prayers has not yet set in, and based on his statement, the fasting person performs an act that invalidates the fast; afterward, it is known that the time has set in;
6. When someone says that it is morning, but a fasting person does not believe him and performs an act that invalidates the fast; later, it becomes known that it is really morning (Ṣubḥ);
7. A fasting person who is blind or unable to investigate time breaks his fast based on the statement of another person and discovers later that it isn’t evening (Maghrib);
8. A fasting person believes, because of the darkness, that Maghrib has set and hence breaks his fast. Later on, it becomes known that it was not Maghrib;
9. When a person circulates water in his mouth (mazmaza) due to feeling cool or without reason, the water goes down, and he swallows the water involuntarily;
10. When a fasting person breaks his fast out of compulsion, necessity, or taqiyyah (Issue 1732).

B: The Laws of Qaḍāʾ Fast

1. If someone has Qaḍāʾ fasts from several months of Ramaḍān of several years, there is no matter in taking the Qaḍāʾ of each month first (Issue 1742).
2. If one does not fast in Ramaḍān due to illness, Ḥayḍ, or Nifās, and he dies before the end of the month Ramaḍān , it is not necessary to perform Qaḍāʾ of the fasts that were not performed (Issue 1746).
3. If a person’s illness continues for several years after he gets better, he must perform the fasts (Qaḍāʾ) for the last Ramaḍān and must give one mudd (750 grams) of food to the poor person for each missed day of the previous years (Issue 1751).
4. If a person intentionally does not perform the fast of Ramaḍān, he must perform the Qaḍāʾ fasts and kaffāra for each missed day (Issue 1754).

C: The Traveler’s Fast

1. Fasting and prayer of a traveler in shorting and completing (qasr and tamām) have the same law. Wherever his prayer is completed, he must fast; wherever his prayer is shortened, he must not fast (Issue 1758).
2. For A traveler who has begun a journey or is returning from a journey, the following fasting laws apply:

D: People on Whom Fasting Is Not Obligatory

For the following groups, fasting is not obligatory:

1. Someone who cannot fast due to old age (Issue 1769).
2. An illness that makes a person very thirsty and excessively difficult (Issue 1771).
3. If a pregnant woman is nearing delivery and fasting harms her and her unborn child, she is not required to fast and must give one Mudd of food to a poor person daily instead (Issue 1772).
4. When a breastfeeding mother has little milk, and her fast is harmful to her child, she is not required to fast, but she must give one Mudd of food per day to a poor person, and she must also perform the Qaḍā of the fasts later (Issue 1772).

E- Methods of Ascertaining the First Day of a Month

1. A person sees the moon himself with the naked eye;
2. When a group of people states that they have seen the moon or anything else which leads to certainty, one becomes sure or confident.
3. Two just (ʿādil) men testify that they have seen the moon at night.
4. Thirty days from the first day of the month of Shaʿbān have passed, the first day of Ramaḍān will be established, and thirty days from the first of the month of Ramaḍān has passed, the first of Shawwal is established.
5. When a Mujtahid (jurist) announces the first day of a month (Issue 1774).

 Question:

 The horizons of Afghanistan and its neighbors, such as Iran and Pakistan, are the same or different?

Answer:

There is a difference between them, but the horizon unit is not conditional

Exercises:

1. What are the cases of Kaffārah of fasting?
2. In which cases is only the qaḍā of fast obligatory?
3. What are the laws regarding traveler’s fasts before and afternoon?
4. In what ways is the first day of the month established?