Section Three: Conditions under whichsawm
becomes obligatory and correct
1. A young girl has reached the age of legal maturity [taklif
]; however, she cannot fast in the month of Ramadan due to her weak constitution. She is also unable to perform theqada
of the missed days of fasting until the next Ramadan. What is the ruling in this situation?
A: The obligation of fasting orqada
for the missed fasts is not removed just because of weakness or inability. Rather,qada
of the missed days of fasting in Ramadan will remain obligatory upon her.
2. What is the ruling for those girls who have recently reached legal maturity and find it somewhat difficult to fast? Is nine years the age when girls become mature?
A: The legal age of maturity for girls start at the completion of nine lunar years, hence it is obligatory for them to fast. It is not permissible to forsake fasting due to some excuse. However, if fasting during the day becomes harmful for them, it is permissible to break the fast.
3. I do not know exactly when I reached the age of legal maturity [taklif
], as I was not aware of this issue at that time. Please clarify, from which time is it obligatory for me to performqada
of missed prayers and fasts? Is it obligatory for, me to pay thekaffarah
for the missed fasts or isqada
sufficient?
A: You are only responsible for doingqada
from the time that you are certain that you reached the age of legal maturity [taklif
]. Payment of thekaffarah
is obligatory for fasts that were intentionally broken by persons who were certain that he/she was legally mature.
4. A nine-year old girl, upon whom it is obligatory to fast, breaks her fast because fasting was very hard for her. Does she have to performqada
of those fasts?
A: Yes, she will have to performqada
of the Ramadan fast that she broke.
5. Someone with a strong excuse thought it likely, with more than 50% probability, that fasting was not obligatory for him, so he did not fast.
Later it becomes clear to him that fasting was obligatory on him at that time. What is the ruling in respect of performingqada
and payingkaffarah
?
A: If one breaks a fast in the month of Ramadan, assuming that fasting is not obligatory upon him, then he must carry out itsqada
and also pay thekaffarah
. However, if one did not fast out of fear that fasting was harmful for him, then it is not necessary for him to paykaffarah
, but he must performqada
.
6- If akafir
converted to Islam during the day, is hissawm
of that day correct especially if his conversion was beforezawal
?
A: No, thesawm
of that day is not correct.
7- If a Muslim apostatizes during thesawm
then he returned to Islam by repentance and renewed his intention beforezawal
, would hissawm
remain correct?
A: No, thesawm
of that day is not correct.
8- If a Sunni person returned to the right path during the day which he is insawm
, what is the ruling regarding hissawm
?
A: Thesawm
of that day is not correct.
9- Is thesawm
of the mad man accepted?
A: Hissawm
is not correct even though his madness might have a part of the day.
10- If the drinker or the unconscious person who has already intended to fast awoke or became conscious during the day, what should he do?
A: According to the obligatory precaution, one who has awoken from drunkenness with the previous intention to fast should complete hissawm
and doqada
later on. While thatwho
became conscious after unconsciousness, then simply completing hissawm
is sufficient; otherwise he should doqada
, if he had not intended to fast already.
11- If thesawm
has preventedsome one
from performing his job on which he is dependant for his income and he cannot perform other job is he, then, allowed to break his fast?
A: It is not permissible for him to break his fast unless thesawm
would cause unendurable hardship for him.
12- If a sick person is cured from his disease beforezawal
without eating anything, is he allowed to renew his intention and continue thesawm
?
A: In the given question,sawm
would not be obligatory on him. However, if hebecome
cure from his disease beforezawal
and he did not take anything that may break the fast, it is based on the recommended precaution to intendsawm
and do itsqada
later.
13- A person bound by religious obligation [mukallaf
] who is affected by poliomyelitis since childhood and suffers from difficulty and weakness in all voluntary movements including walking, speaking, eating, drinking etc., thus he is crippled and should always stay at home however he is mentally normal and could distinguish between right and wrong just like the normal people. For this reason he does some things to amuse himself like listening to enrapturing songs and the like. We would like to know your view about thismukallaf
and what is the ruling about hissalat
,sawm
and his other duties?
A: He should act according to the rulings of all the othermukallafs
regardingsalat
,sawm
and other obligations and it is not permissible for him to listen to songs or trifling, enrapturing music which is suitable for the dissolute and corrupt gatherings.
Rulings of fasting on travel
1. A person who is fasting had planned to reach his place of residence before time of the afternoon prayers [zawal
]. But, along the way he came across an accident that delayed him, hence he did not reach his residency in time. Is his fast valid? Does he have to paykaffarah
or will performing theqada
be sufficient?
A: His fast is invalid while traveling and it is only obligatory upon him to performqada
(of fasting) for the day in which he did not reach his place of residency, and he does not have to paykaffarah
.
2. A passenger or a crewmember aboard an airplane flying at a high altitude and bound for a distant city - a 2:30 to 3 hour journey - has to drink water every 20 minutes to maintain his equilibrium. Does he/she have to paykaffarah
in addition to performing theqada
?
A: Iffasting
causes harm, one can break the fast to drink water. He will have to perform itsqada
, butkaffarah
will not be obligatory on him in this case.
3. Is it permitted for a person to travel intentionally during the month of Ramadan in order to break the fast and relieve himself of its burden?
A: There is no problem in doing that. Therefore, when traveling, even to escape the duty of fasting, he must break the fast.
4. A person responsible for performing an obligatory fast decided to fulfill his duty, but could not because of unforeseen circumstances. For example, he prepared to travel after sunrise - he travels, but failed to return home before noon. He had not done anything that invalidates the fast, except that the time for making intentions of an obligatory fast has elapsed; and that day is one in which fasting is recommended. Is it valid if he makes intention to perform a recommended fast?
A: When one is responsible for theqada
of Ramadan fasting day, it is invalid to make intentions to perform a recommended fast, even if the time for making intentions for performing an obligatory fast has passed.
5. I am addicted to smoking. No matter how much I try not to be irritable in the blessed month of Ramadan, Ican not
abstain from a conduct that disrupts the peace of my family and puts me into a nervous state. What is my duty in this situation?
A: It is obligatory upon you to fast in the month of Ramadan and it is not permissible for you, as per obligatory precaution, to smoke while fasting. Also, acting irritably with others without justification is unlawful.
6. A person finished his fast in his hometown after sunset. Then on traveling to another city, he found that the sun there had not set yet. What will be the rule regarding his fasting? Can he eat and drink in the new place before sunset?
A: His fast is valid and he can eat and drink in the new place before sunset since he hadbroke
his fast atmaghrib
in his city.
7. A person performing military service could not fast during the month of Ramadan last year because of frequent traveling and being stationed on base (in the service). As Ramadan approaches this year, he is still serving in the same area and does not think he will be able to fast this year, either. Does he have to pay thekaffarah
after leaving the service, in addition to performing theqada
of those fast?
A: When someone forgoes fasting in the month of Ramadan because of the excuse of traveling, which extends until the next Ramadan, his only duty is to performqada
and nokaffarah
is obligatory upon him.
8. A person who lives in the port ofDayyir
kept fast from the first day of Ramadan until the twenty-seventh. On the morning of the twenty-eighth day he traveled to Dubai. Arriving there on the twenty-ninth, he noticed that they had declared that day as the first of Shawwal andEid
al-Fitr
there.
Now that he has returned to his hometown, does he have to make up [doqada
] for the fast he missed? If he doesqada
of only one day then the month of Ramadan for him will be only twenty-eight days, and if he makes up for two days, then on the 29th day he was present in a place whereEid
was declared. What is the ruling for such a person?
A: If the twenty-ninth day of Ramadan was declaredEid
in accordance with valid legal [shari
] criteria, then he does not have to performqada
for that day. But it indicates that he missed fasting at themonth''s
beginning, which he has to make up, the number of days he is sure of having missed.
9- A person who is committed to a job in a center in Beirut and he is asked to stay in the battle-field or go and return back without determining the place or the time?
A: If he went to his job without staying for 10 days in a single place and repeated his travel for the job covering theshari
distance in each time, his prayer [salat
] should be full [tamam
] and hissawm
would be correct.
10- A person who is committed to a job in a place outside his homeland and he is always compelled to go and return back from the work center to his home covering theshari
distance, what is his duty at home, at the traveling way or at his place of work?
A: The ruling here is that of work in traveling, i.e.salat
should be full andsawm
is correct.
11- One whose job is traveling in such a way that he might stay at home for twenty days and at his work place for some days, like that of the mujahidin, then what is the ruling concerning hissalat
andsawm
?
A: In the given question, he should pray fullsalat
and fast in his work place as long as he is intending to reside there for 10days,
otherwise he should prayqasr
and break fasting.
12- Some of the mujahidin have no specific time for their duties i.e. sometimes they stay in the battle-field for three days to return home and stay for fifteen days and, then, they go again to the battle-field for 3 days or sometimes 10 days or more and return home again and stay for 10 days or more. What is the ruling regarding theirsalat
andsawm
?
A: The standard is what was mentioned i.e. if his travel was for work, after he had stayed for 10 days in a place, he should prayqasr
on the first journey, unless he intended to stay for 10 days in the work place. While if he traveled without separating his two journeys with a 10 days stay, he should pray full and fast.
13- His Eminence, the Leader of the MuslimsAyatullah
al-dhma
Sayyid
AliKhamenei
(m.): There is a group of the brothers in Lebanon who have devoted themselves to the work with the Islamic Opposition Movements. The nature of their job is that it does not have a specific place, time or program. They are compelled to move about from one place to another and to be always ready to be present and act in certain places where they are requested, in certain places in which they may stay for 1 day or more according to the conditions.
1) According to this type of work, what is the ruling regarding theirsalat
andsawm
?
2) What is the ruling regarding those who have newly joined such a work?
A: If the work in the Islamic Opposition Movements is considered conventionally as a work or job and it requires frequent traveling here and there, then as long as there is no separating period of 10 days stay, in a single place, between the two journeys, they should pray their fullsalat
and fast. While if the 10 days staying period interferes, they should prayqasr
andbreak fast
in the first journey after the staying period.
15- I am in thetaqlid
of Imam Khomeini (q.) and living in the city of Beirut for more than 15 years. I had been born in the city of Sur in the south of Lebanon and since I have no intention of staying for 10 days in Beirut, I prayqasr
and cannot fast because I go weekly to the south more or less often. Is there a way to pray full and fast without intending the residency in the city of Beirut?Knowing that if I lost my job in Beirut I should return to my birthplace on the south.
Then, should I prayqasr
andbreak fast
for all the time of my staying in Beirut or what?
A: If you were frequenting between the city of Sur and Beirut (your work place) every week, you are obliged to pray full and fast, i.e., in general, any person who frequents between his homeland and working place, at least once every 10 days, covering ashari
distance, his ruling would be a completesalat
(full) and hissawm
would be correct whether during traveling the distance, being at the work place or home. However, if he, for once, stayed for 10 days in a single place, he should prayqasr
during the first journey after the 10 days stay.
16- a) Before the end of 10 days I went to the city of Bakhtaran for important work and stayed there for 2 hours then returned to my work place. b) After this 10 days stay was finished, I traveled to the city of Bakhtaran aiming to go to a certain place there without exceeding theshari
distance.
I had passed the night at that place and then returned to my place of residence. c) After a complete 10 days stay at my work place, I traveled to a certain place in the city of Bakhtaran where my intention was changed, after the arrival, to go to another place which is located at a distance more than theshari
distance from my place of residency. d)if
the ruling in case (b) and (c) was the abrogation of my residency, then what is the ruling regarding mysalat
andsawm
in my place of residency when I was ignorant about the abrogation?
A: (a & b) After the settlement of the ruling of your residency, even by just offering one fullsalat
in this place, going out for a distance shorter than theshari
distance, even for more than one or two hours or 1 or 2 days, would not harm this residency. So you could pray fullsalat
and fast till a new travel is issued.
(c) If the distance from the point of changing the intention to the destination was equal to 4farsakhs
(1/2 theshari
distance) or more, or the returning distance from the destination to the place of residency was equal to 8farsakhs
(=shari
distance), the ruling of the last residency would be abrogated with this journey and you should renew your intention of residency after you reach the place of residency, otherwise, you are still under the ruling of the last residency when you should pray full and fast.
17- I am frequenting to my home and work place every day without covering theshari
distance. Am I in need to intend residency for 10 days to pray fullsalat
?
A: If frequenting between the 2 places was after the settlement of the correct intention of residency in one of these places, it will never harm the validity of the continuance of the residency and the act of praying in full and fasting.
Author: Tebyan
