Types of fasts

473) Fasts can be categorized into four types:

1. Obligatory fasts, such as the fasting of the month of Ramadan

2. Recommended fasts, such as the fasting of the months of Rajab and Sha‘bān

3. Disliked fasts, such as fasting on the day of ‘Ashūrā.

4. Forbidden fasts, such as fasting on the day of Eid al-Fiṭr (1 Shawwāl) and Eid al-Aḍḥā (10 Dhu al-Ḥijjah).

474) For a person, who knows that fasting is harmful for him or fears of harm, fasting is not obligatory, and in some cases, it is forbidden; whether the mentioned certainty or fear occurs due to personal experience, the opinion of a trustworthy doctor, or another reasonable source. So, if he fasts, it is not valid unless he fasts with the intention of proximity to God and later he finds out that fasting was not actually harmful.

475) It is upon a person himself to finally conclude whether his fasting causes or worsens an illness or not; thus, if a doctor says that fasting is harmful for him, but he knows, through experience, that it is not harmful, he has to fast. Also, if a doctor says that fasting is not harmful, but he knows that it is harmful for him or fears of harm, he must not fast.

476) If a person believes that fasting is not harmful for him and fasts and later realizes that it was harmful for him, he has to perform its qaḍā’.[1]

477) The opinion of doctors who prohibit their patients from fasting due to its being harmful is valid only if it brings about certainty or fear of harm; otherwise, it is not valid.

Obligatory fasts

478) The obligatory fasts are:

1. Fasting in the month of Ramadan

2. Qaḍā’ fast

3. Kaffārah[1] fast

4. Qaḍā’ fasts of the father and mother

5. Recommended fasts made obligatory through a vow (nadhr), covenant (‘ahd) or oath (qasam)

6. Fasting on the third day of i‘tikāf[2]

7. Fasting instead of sacrifice during the tamattu‘[3] hajj

8. Fasting on account of being hired [on behalf of a deceased person].[4]

Conditions of the obligation of fasting

479) The conditions for fasting to become obligatory are: (1) shar‘ī puberty, (2) sanity, (3) strength, (4) consciousness, (5) not being a traveler, (6) not being in the state of menstruation or lochia, (7) for fasting to cause no harm, and (8) for fasting to involve no extreme hardship.

480) Fasting is obligatory for those who meet the above conditions. Therefore, fasting is not obligatory for a child who has not reached the age of shar‘ī puberty, an insane person, an unconscious person, a person who does not have the [physical] strength to fast, a traveller, a woman in the state of 'menstruation' or 'lochia' (it is notable that sometimes bleeding is considered as istiḥāḍah during which she should fast), or a person for whom fasting entails either harm or extreme hardship.

481) A person cannot break the fast due to weakness, but if his weakness increases so much that it becomes unbearable for him, he can break his fast. It is the same if fasting involves harm or fear of harm for the person. Therefore, it is obligatory for girls who reach the age of shar‘ī puberty (which is the completion of nine lunar years according to most mujtahids) to fast, and abandoning it merely due to hardship, physical weakness, etc. is not permissible. But if fasting for such girls or for those who live in regions with very long daytime involves extreme hardship due to activities related to their job or studying, they should start fasting and break it whenever the hardship occurs, and to perform its qaḍā’ later. If this situation happens even in case of abandoning daily activities and consuming proper food, based on obligatory precaution, the same ruling applies.

Conditions for the validity of fasting

482) The conditions for the validity of fasting are: (1) being Muslim, (2) sanity, (3) not being unconscious, (4) not travelling, (5) not being in the state of 'menstruation' or 'lochia', (6) not involving any harm, (7) having the intention, (8) not performing any invalidators of fasting, (9) not being liable for qaḍā’ fasts of the month of Ramadan, and based on obligatory precaution, not being liable for other qaḍā’ fasts (however this condition is for the person who wants to perform the recommended fasting).

483) Fasting is accepted from those who meet the above conditions; therefore, the fast of the following persons is invalid: a non-Muslim, an insane person, an unconscious person, a 'travelling' person, a woman in the state of 'menstruation' or 'lochia', a person for whom fasting involves harm, and a person who has not made the intention for fasting on that day or has intentionally performed one of the invalidators of fasting. Also, the recommended fast of a person who is liable to perform qaḍā’ fasts is not valid.

Kaffārah for intentionally invalidating the fast of the month of Ramadan

551) If in the month of Ramadan, a person intentionally, voluntarily, and without a shar‘ī excuse commits one of the acts which invalidate fasting, his fast becomes void, and he also is obliged to offer the kaffārah, whether he had the knowledge about the obligation of kaffārah upon committing the invalidator or not.

552) If a person, due to having a shar‘ī excuse, considers it possible that the fast of the month of Ramadan is not obligatory for him and thus he does not observe the fast, but later it is known that he was obliged to perform the fast, in addition to performing the qaḍā’ fast, he is obliged to offer kaffārah. (The mere possibility of non-obligation of fasting in the month of Ramadan is not sufficient for not fasting.) However, if invalidating the fast is due to harm or fear of harm, and the fear has a rational basis, there is no obligation to pay kaffārah, but he is obliged to perform the qaḍā’ fast.

553) If due to lack of knowledge about the religious ruling, a person commits an act which invalidates the fast, for example, he immerses his head into water without knowing that immersing the head in water invalidates the fast, his fast becomes void and he needs to perform its qaḍā’, but he is not obliged to offer kaffārah.

554) If a person performs an act which he knows is forbidden, but he did not know that it invalidates the fast, in addition to performing qaḍā’, he has to pay kaffārah based on obligatory precaution.

555) If due to some reason, invalidating the fast becomes permissible or obligatory for a person, for example, he is coerced into committing something which invalidates the fast, or he dives into water to save a drowning person, he is not obliged to pay kaffārah, but he has to perform its qaḍā’ fast.

556) If something from the stomach of a person who is fasting comes up to his mouth, he must not swallow it, and if he intentionally swallows it, he has to perform a qaḍā’ fast and pay kaffārah.

557) If a person who is fasting breaks his fast upon hearing that it is maghrib from someone whose report is not reliable, and then realizes that it was not maghrib, he is obliged to perform the qaḍā’ fast and pay kaffārah.

558) If a person who is fasting in the month of Ramadan performs sexual intercourse with his wife with her consent, the ruling for intentional breaking of fast applies to both of them, so they both are obliged to perform qaḍā’ fast and pay kaffārah.

The amount and description of kaffārah

559) Kaffārah for intentional breaking of fast of the month of Ramadan is one of three things:

1. To free a slave

2. To fast for two months (60 days)

3. To feed sixty poor people.

Since, seemingly, there are no slaves in the present time to free, the person has to perform either of the other two other choices.

560) About the amount of kaffārah, there is no difference whether the person invalidates his fast by a permissible act or a forbidden act such as adultery, masturbation, or eating and drinking forbidden things; however, based on recommended precaution, breaking the fast by a forbidden act makes offering collective kaffārah obligatory on him, meaning that he has to free a slave, fast for two months, and feed sixty poor people.

561) If none of the three acts is possible, the person has to feed as many poor people as he can afford to and, based on (obligatory) precaution, he also needs to repent. If he cannot feed any poor person, it is sufficient that he repents with his heart and tongue and says astaghfirullāh (“I ask forgiveness from God”).

562) If a person who cannot fast or feed poor people, and is obliged to repent instead, later gains the ability to fast or feed poor people, he does not have to do so, although it is a recommended precaution.

563) A person who intends to perform the fast for two months as the kaffārah for the fast of one day of the month of Ramadan has to fast for one complete month and one day of the second month consecutively, and there is no problem if he does not fast the days of the second month consecutively.

564) A woman who intends to fast sixty days as kaffārah and enters the days of her monthly menstruation can proceed to observe the remaining fasts after her monthly period ends, and she does not have to commence fasting again from the beginning.

565) Feeding sixty poor people can be performed in two ways:

1. To feed them with prepared food

2. To give each of them 750 grams (one mudd)[1] of wheat, flour, bread, rice, or such.

566) If a person who intends to feed 60 poor people as kaffārah for a fast (as explained in the previous ruling) has access to 60 poor people, that person cannot give the shares of two or more people to one person, and must give each of the 60 persons a share of food. However, he can entrust a poor person with a number of shares equal to the number of his family members to distribute among them. And regarding poor persons, there is no difference between children or grown-ups, men or women.

Rulings about kaffārah

567) If a person who is fasting commits an act which invalidates the fast more than once in a day, only one kaffārah becomes obligatory on him. However, if it is sexual intercourse or masturbation, based on obligatory precaution, he has to offer kaffārah according to the number of times he committed it.

568) If a person intentionally invalidates his fast and then goes to travel, he will not be discharged from paying the kaffārah; therefore, if a person wakes up in the state of janābah and becomes aware of his state but does not perform ghusl or tayammum and decides to travel after fajr to escape from fasting and does so, his mere decision to travel on the previous night and going to travel in the next morning would not be sufficient to discharge him from paying the kaffārah.

569) For a person who is obliged to pay kaffārah, it is not necessary to pay it immediately, but he must not delay it so much that it would be considered a dereliction of duty.

570) If a person does not pay the obligatory kaffārah for some years, nothing will be added to it.

571) About the kaffārah of the fast, observing the order between performing qaḍā’ and paying kaffārah is not obligatory.

Kaffārah for breaking the qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan

572) It is not permissible for a person who is performing a qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan to break his fast after ẓuhr adhān, and if intentionally does so, he has to pay kaffārah.

573) A person who is performing a qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan can break it before shar‘ī ẓuhr, provided that there is enough time for performing qaḍā’, but if there is not enough time, for example, he has to perform five days of qaḍā’ fast and only five days are left to the beginning of the month of Ramadan, breaking fast before shar‘ī ẓuhr (the same as breaking fast after shar‘ī ẓuhr) is not permissible for him based on (obligatory) precaution, but he does not have to pay kaffārah if he breaks it before shar‘ī ẓuhr.

574) If a person is hired to perform a qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan (on behalf of a person) and breaks his fast after shar‘ī ẓuhr, he does not have to pay kaffārah.

575) Kaffārah of a qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan is feeding ten poor people, and if a person cannot afford it, he has to fast three days (consecutively, based on obligatory precaution).

Kaffārah for delay

576) A person who does not perform a fast of the month of Ramadan due to a shar‘ī excuse and does not perform its qaḍā’ until the month of Ramadan of the next year due to dereliction and without having an excuse has to perform the qaḍā’ fast later and pay the kaffārah of delay for each day, but if he delays performing the qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan due to the continuation of an excuse which prevents fasting, such as travelling until the month of Ramadan of the next year, performing a qaḍā’ fast for those fasts he missed is enough and he does not have to pay kaffārah; however, the (recommended) precaution requires that he performs qaḍā’ fast and also pays kaffārah. It should be noted that a necessary explanation will be given about illness in later rulings.

577) The kaffārah for delaying the qaḍā’ fast until the month of Ramadan of the next year is not waived due to a person’s ignorance about its obligation; thus, if a person, due to ignorance about the obligation of performing a qaḍā’ fast before the month of Ramadan of the next year, delays performing his qaḍā’ fasts, he has to pay the kaffārah of delay for each day.

578) The kaffārah of delay for the qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan (even if delayed for some years) is obligatory to be paid only once and does not multiply with the passage of years; thus, if a person delays performing the qaḍā’ fast of the month of Ramadan for some years, he has to perform their qaḍā’ fasts, and, for each day, pays the kaffārah of delay.

579) The kaffārah of delay is 750 grams (one mudd) of food (including wheat, flour, bread, rice, etc.) which needs to be given to a poor person.

580) A person who has to give one mudd of food for every day can give kaffārah for some days to one poor person.

Fidyah[1]

581) Fidyah has to be paid in the cases below:

1. An elderly man or woman, for whom fasting involves hardship. (Based on obligatory precaution, if they are not able at all to fast, they should pay fidyah as well.)

2. A person who suffers from polydipsia (istisqā’) and frequently becomes thirsty and fasting involves hardship for him.

3. A pregnant woman who will soon deliver her baby, and fasting is harmful to her.

4. A breast-feeding mother whose milk is little, and if she fasts, it is harmful to the child she breast-feeds.

5. An ill person for whom fasting is harmful, and his illness continues until the month of Ramadan of the next year.

582) A pregnant woman whose date of delivery is near and fears harm for her baby due to fasting, and whose fear has a reasonable basis, should break her fast and pay fidyah for every day and later perform qaḍā’ fasts for them as well. Based on obligatory precaution, the same ruling applies to a pregnant woman whose date of delivery is not near and has the same fear of harm.

583) A breast-feeding mother who fears harm for her baby fearing that her milk would diminish or dry out due to fasting has to break her fast and pay fidyah and perform their qaḍā’ fasts later.

584) An ill person who does not perform fasts of the month of Ramadan due to illness and his illness continues until the month of Ramadan of the next year does not have to perform qaḍā’ of the fasts he missed and only has to pay fidyah for each day.

585) A woman who cannot fast due to illness and is not able to perform qaḍā’ fasts because of the continuation of her illness until the month of Ramadan of the next year has to pay fidyah on her own, and nothing is upon her husband.

586) A woman who does not fast for two consecutive years due to fear that fasting would be harmful for her baby before or after birth has to perform qaḍā’ fast and also pay fidyah for each day. If she delays performing the qaḍā’ fast until the month of Ramadan of the next year without a shar‘ī excuse, she has to perform the qaḍā’ fast and also pay the kaffārah of delay in addition to fidyah. If fasting is harmful for her, and she does not perform the qaḍā’ fasting until the month of Ramadan of the next year due to its harm to her, she only has to pay fidyah for each day.

587) The amount of fidyah is the same as the amount of kaffārah of delay, for which one mudd of food should to be given to a poor person.

588) If a person who makes a vow (nadhr) to perform fast on a certain day intentionally does not perform fast on that day, or breaks his fast, he has to pay kaffārah.

589) The kaffārah for a vow (nadhr) is the same as the kaffārah for an oath (qasam), which will be mentioned in the relevant chapter.

Cases when performing qaḍā’ is obligatory but paying kaffārah is not obligatory

590) A person who does not make the intention to fast, or who fasts in order to show off, but does not perform any of the acts which invalidate the fast, has to perform a qaḍā’ fast for that day, but he does not have to pay kaffārah.

591) A person who forgets to perform ghusl for janābah in the month of Ramadan and fasts for some days in that state has to perform qaḍā’ fasts of those days.

592) If before dawn in the month of Ramadan, a person performs an act which invalidates the fast without enquiring whether it is fajr or not, and then realizes that it was fajr then, he has to perform a qaḍā’ fast of that day; but if he enquires and knows that it was not fajr and eats something and later realizes that it was fajr, he is not obliged to perform the qaḍā’ fast of that day.

593) If on a day of the month of Ramadan, a person becomes certain that it was maghrib due to the darkness of the sky, or because some people whose report is considered shar‘ī proof said that it was maghrib, and he broke his fast and then realized that it was not maghrib then, he has to perform qaḍā’ fast of that day.

594) If due to clouds, a person thought that it was maghrib and broke his fast and later realized that it was not maghrib, he does not have to perform qaḍā’ for that day.

595) Before dawn in the month of Ramadan, a person can perform acts which invalidate the fast as long as he is not certain that it is fajr, but if later he realizes that it was fajr, ruling 976 applies to him.

596) On a day of the month of Ramadan, a person cannot break his fast before he is certain that it is maghrib, and if he is certain that it is maghrib and later realizes that it was not maghrib, rulings 977 and 978 apply to him.

597) If upon performing wuḍū’, a person who is fasting rinses some water in his mouth (which is recommended) but unintentionally swallows it, his fast is valid, and he does not have to perform a qaḍā’ fast. But if he performs that not as a recommended act during wuḍū’, but to cool off or for some other purpose and the water unintentionally goes down his throat, he has to perform a qaḍā’ fast for that day.

Rulings regarding qaḍā’ fasts

598) A person who is unconscious for one or more days and misses obligatory fasts does not have to perform qaḍā’ fasts for those days.

599) A person who misses a fast due to being drunk—for example, who cannot make the intention of fasting because of being drunk—has to perform a qaḍā’ fast, even if he abstains all the day from the invalidators of fasting.

600) A person who makes the intention for fasting, but then becomes drunk and spends all or part of the day in that state, based on (obligatory) precaution, has to perform a qaḍā’ fast for that day, especially in severely drunk states which take away awareness.[1]

601) A woman has to perform qaḍā’ fasts for the days she did not fast due to her monthly menstruation or lochia.

602) A person who has not fasted for some days of the month of Ramadan due to a shar‘ī excuse and does not know the number of those days—for example, he does not know whether he went to travel on the 25^th of Ramadan and thus the number of missed days is six or he went to travel on the 26^th and thus the number is five—can perform qaḍā’ fasts for the fewer number of days. But if he knows the beginning time of his excuse (e.g. travel), and for example knows that he went to travel on the 5^th, but he does not remember if he came back on the 10^th, so that five days are missed, or he came back on the 11^th, and six days are missed, based on (obligatory) precaution, he has to perform qaḍā’ fasts for the greater number of days.

603) If a person has to perform qaḍā’ fasts for some days of the months of Ramadan of several years, it does not matter which year’s qaḍā’ he performs first, but if there is not enough time for performing qaḍā’ fasts of the last month of Ramadan, based on (obligatory) precaution, he has to perform qaḍā’ fasts of the last month of Ramadan. For example, he has to perform five days of qaḍā’ fasts for the last month of Ramadan when only five days are left until the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

604) A person who performs qaḍā’ fasts of the month of Ramadan can break his fast before shar‘ī ẓuhr, provided that there is enough time for performing qaḍā’ fasts, but breaking fast after shar‘ī ẓuhr is not permissible.

605) If due to an illness, a person does not perform the fast of the month of Ramadan, and his illness continues until the month of Ramadan of the next year, performing qaḍā’ of his missed fasts is not obligatory, but if he does not perform fast due to another excuse (such as going to travel) and his excuse continues until the month of Ramadan of the next year, he has to perform the qaḍā’ of the fasts he missed, after the month of Ramadan. It is the same if he did not perform fasts due to an illness, then the illness was healed, and another excuse such as travel came up.

606) Inability to perform fast and its qaḍā’ merely due to weakness and lack of strength does not cancel the qaḍā’ of fast. Therefore, if a girl has reached the age of shar‘ī puberty but cannot fast, and even until the month of Ramadan of the next year, she cannot perform the qaḍā’ fasts, the obligation of fasting qaḍā’ of the fasts she missed remains upon her. Also, a person who did not perform fast for some years and now has repented and returned to God and has decided to make up for them has to perform qaḍā’ of all the fasts he has missed. If he cannot, he will not be discharged of the obligation to perform them.

Rulings regarding qaḍā’ fasts of the mother and father

607) If a person’s father, and, based on obligatory precaution, a person’s mother did not perform his or her fasts due to an excuse other than travel, and did not perform their qaḍā’ while they could perform their qaḍā’, their eldest son is obliged to perform their qaḍā’ fasts or hire someone to do that after their death. As for the fasts they missed due to travel, it is obligatory on their eldest son to perform their qaḍā’ fasts, even if they did not find the time to perform their qaḍā’ fasts.

608) The fasts that a father or mother did not perform intentionally, based on (obligatory) precaution, have to be performed by their eldest son or a person he hires for it.

609) Regarding the qaḍā’ prayers and fasts of the father and mother, there is no preference between prayer and fasting, and each of them can precede the other.

The method of ascertaining the first day of a month

615) The first day of a month is established in the following five ways:

1. If a person himself sights the moon

2. The testimony of two just persons (about sighting the moon), provided that their claim is not rejected by a multitude of people leading to an increase of the possibility of the witnesses’ mistake.

3. Receiving a multitude of reports which brings about certainty.

4. If thirty days have passed from the first day of the previous month.

5. The verdict of the religious authority.

616) Sighting the moon in the afternoon is sufficient for ascertaining the first day of a lunar month [which begins] after the night of sighting.

617) There is no difference between sighting the moon using instruments and sighting in the normal way [with the naked eye], and both are valid. The criterion is that “sighting” [as in seeing the moon] should take place; therefore, the ruling for sighting with the naked eye, glasses, and a telescope is the same. However, seeing the image of the crescent on a computer is problematic, because it is not clear if “sighting” in its actual sense has taken place.

618) Sighting the crescent (istihlāl) is not by itself a religious obligation.

619) If the crescent is narrow or low, or if it is big, high or wide, it does not provide a shar‘ī justification for determining the night as the first or the second night [of the month], but if, through that, a person acquires certainty, he has to act according to his certainty in this regard.

620) The first of a month is not determined by calendars or scientific calculations made by astronomers, unless one acquires certainty through their statements.

621) If the first day of a month is determined in a city, it will be sufficient for other cities which are united in horizon.

622) The cities in which the probability of sighting the moon is equal are considered united in horizon.

623) If sighting the moon is proved to the religious authority, it is not sufficient for others to follow him as long as he has not given a verdict in this regard, unless one gains confidence that moon was sighted.

624) If a person sees the crescent and knows that sighting the moon is not possible for the religious authority of his city due to some reason, it is not obligatory upon him to inform the religious authority unless not doing so involves a problem.

625) If the religious authority gives a verdict that tomorrow is Eid and his verdict includes the whole country, his ruling is valid for all the cities.

626) In following the announcement of the sighting of the moon by the government, being Islamic is not a required condition for the government. The criterion, in this case, is gaining confidence that the moon has been sighted in a region where sighting the moon is sufficient for the person.

627) If the crescent of the new moon is not seen in a city, but television and radio announce its sighting, if it brings about confidence regarding the sighting or if the verdict for sighting is from the wali al-faqih, it is sufficient, and there is no need for further inquiry.

628) If the first day of the month is neither established by the sighting of the moon even in the neighboring cities which have the same horizon, nor by the testimony of two just persons, nor by the verdict of the religious authority, a person needs to observe precaution until the first day of the month is established.

629) If the first day of the month [of Ramadan] is not established, fasting is not obligatory, but if later it is known that the day the person did not fast was the first day of the month, he has to perform its qaḍā’ fast.

630) When a person doubts whether it is the last day of the month of Ramadan or the first day of Shawwal, he has to fast. But if in the middle of the day, it is established that it is the first day of Shawwal, he has to break his fast, even if it is near maghrib.

Miscellaneous issues regarding fasting

631) In a place where most people are awake during the nights of the blessed month of Ramadan for recitation of the Qur’an and du‘ās and participating in religious ceremonies and the like, there is no problem with broadcasting special pre-dawn programs from the loudspeakers of mosques in a way that all people hear them, but if it bothers the neighbors of the mosque, it is not permissible.

632) Reciting the du‘ās which are introduced as a set of du‘ās specific to each day of the month of Ramadan such as the du‘ā of the first day, of the second day, and up to the last day of the month, has no problem if the person recites them merely with the intention of receiving reward and in the hope that they are desired [without ascribing religious prescription to them].

633) When a person observes a recommended fast, it is not obligatory to complete it, and he can break it whenever he wishes. If his brother in faith invites him to eat food, it is recommended that he accept his invitation and break his fast in the middle of the day.

634) If a person breaks his fast in a place after maghrib and then goes to another place where the sun has not yet set, his fast is correct and doing something there that invalidates the fast before the sunset is permissible for him, provided that he has broken his fast in his homeland after maghrib.

635) If a person observes fasting from the first day of the month of Ramadan until 27^th of the month in his homeland, and then on the morning of 28^th goes to a place which is united in horizon with his own city and arrives there on the 29^th and realizes that Eid has been announced there: if the announcement of Eid on 29^th in the second place had been in accordance to shar‘ī conditions, performing qaḍā’ fast of that day is not obligatory on the person; however, it shows that he has missed one day of the fast at the beginning of the month, so he has to perform the qaḍā’ fast of the day he is certain that he has missed.