Fasting during the holy month of Ramaḍān is one of the most significant obligations in Islam. It is narrated from Imam Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) that he said: "Whoever breaks one day of fasting during the month of Ramaḍān [without a valid excuse], the spirit of faith departs from him."
Issue 120: The conditions that make fasting in the month of Ramaḍān obligatory are:
1. The person must be of age (bāligh). Thus, fasting is not obligatory for minors, although it is recommended to train them to fast as much as they can. For instance, it is good to instruct a child to fast from morning until noon (or slightly more or less) to get accustomed to fasting.
2. The person must be sane.
3. The person must not be unconscious.
4. The person must be free from menstruation or postnatal bleeding. Therefore, fasting is not obligatory for a woman during menstruation or postnatal bleeding, and fasting in such states is invalid. However, she must make up for those missed fasts later.
5. Fasting must not be harmful. If fasting causes harm to a sick person, such as worsening his illness, delaying his recovery, or increasing his pain, then fasting is not obligatory. In all these cases, the harm must be significant enough to be normally unbearable.
6. The person must not be traveling. Therefore, fasting is not obligatory for a traveler whose duty is to shorten the prayers. In fact, if such a person observes fast, his fast would not be valid. There are exceptions to this rule:
A) If a person was unaware that fasting is invalid during travel and fasted, and later learned the rule after completing the fast, his fast is valid and he does not have to make it up.
B) If a person starts traveling after midday (Adhān al-Ẓuhr), it is obligatory as a measure of precaution to complete the fast of that day and he should suffice to it.
C) If a traveler returns to his hometown before midday and has not engaged in any acts that invalidate the fast, it is necessary as an obligatory precaution that he form his intention to fast on that day and it will suffice.
If a person intends to travel before midday, it is not permissible for him to break the fast in his hometown or after leaving it until he reaches the limit of tarakhkhus (a distance beyond which he is reckoned to be a traveler), which was explained in the eighth condition of Issue 103.
Issue 121: The start of the month of Ramaḍān is determined by:
1. Personally sighting the new moon with the naked eye. Thus, if the moon is not visible with the naked eye, seeing it through a telescope or similar means is not sufficient.
2. Two just men testify that they have seen the new moon, and there is no knowledge of their error, and their testimony is not contradicted- even in a legal sense. By "not contradicted in a legal sense," we mean that there are no factors preventing the acceptance of their testimony. For instance, if a large group of people in the city attempts to sight the new moon but no one other than those two just witnesses claims to have seen it.
3. The completion of thirty days since the beginning of Shaʿbān.
4. Widespread and reliable news among the people about the sighting of the new moon, creating certainty or strong confidence in its occurrence. Announcements on audio-visual media do not have the same credibility.
On the day when one doubts whether it is the last day of Shaʿbān or the first day of Ramaḍān, it is not permissible to fast with the intention of Ramaḍān. However, one can fast with the intention of making up for a missed fast or as a recommended fast of Shaʿbān. If it is later confirmed to be Ramaḍān, the fast will count for Ramaḍān.
On the day when one doubts whether it is the last day of Ramaḍān or the first day of Shawwal, it is not permissible to break the fast until it is confirmed by one of the methods mentioned that the new moon was sighted the previous night.
Issue 122: Fasting is when a person, intending to humble himself and express servitude before the Almighty God, refrains from certain things called 'mufṭirāt' (invalidators) from the time of dawn until sunset. These invalidators that break the fast include:
1. Eating and drinking intentionally, regardless of the amount. If done unintentionally, the fast remains valid, such as someone who forgets he is fasting and eats or drinks.
2. Intentional sexual intercourse from the front or back, whether the person is the initiator or the recipient.
3. Intentional masturbation, meaning the deliberate act of causing ejaculation, even if done through permissible actions like foreplay with a spouse. However, experiencing a nocturnal emission during the day does not invalidate the fast, nor does failing to perform the required ritual purification (ghusl) until the end of the day.
4. Vomiting intentionally.
5. Deliberately administering an enema with water or any other liquid.
6. As an obligatory precaution, deliberately ascribing a lie to Almighty Allah, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny), or one of the infallible Imams (peace be upon them).
7. As an obligatory precaution, deliberately inhaling thick dust or allowing thick smoke to reach the throat.
Issue 123: If a person enters the state of major ritual impurity (janābah) owing to sexual intercourse or ejaculation at night during the month of Ramaḍān, he must perform ghusl (ritual purification) before the dawn. If he cannot perform ghusl due to illness or another valid reason, he must perform tayammum (dry ablution). Similarly, if a woman becomes pure from menstruation or postnatal bleeding during the night in Ramaḍān, she must perform ghusl before dawn. In both cases, if she deliberately fails to perform ghusl for janābah, menstruation, or postnatal bleeding, or tayammum as a substitute, before dawn, she must make up for that day and abstain from invalidators of fasting throughout the day with the general intention of seeking proximity to Allah (qurbah muṭlaqah).
Issue 124: If a person enters the state of janābah during the night of Ramaḍān and is confident that he will wake up before the dawn (due to habit or other reasons) and goes to sleep with the intention of performing ghusl upon waking, but does not wake up until dawn, his fast is valid. If this person wakes up before dawn and goes back to sleep but does not wake up until dawn, he must make up for that day’s fast as a punishment(1).
Issue 125: If a person invalidates his fast during Ramaḍān by eating, drinking, engaging in sexual intercourse, masturbating, or remaining in a state of janābah until dawn deliberately and willingly, without compulsion or necessity, he must not only make up for the missed fast (qaḍā) but also perform a kaffāra (expiation). The kaffāra for deliberate breaking of a fast is to either free a slave for each day, or fast for two consecutive months, or feed sixty poor people. For feeding each poor person, it suffices to give 750 grams of dates, wheat, bread, pasta, or any food item. It is not sufficient to give money equivalent to the food.
Issue 126: Kaffāra for breaking a fast is obligatory for someone who knows that fasting is obligatory and is aware that the act he did invalidates the fast. If someone ignorantly believes that fasting is not obligatory or that a particular act does not invalidate fasting and he breaks the fast, kaffāra does not become obligatory upon him. For example, if someone thinks he has not reached the age of religious duty and does not fast, or believes that a particular invalidator does not break the fast and does it, kaffāra is not obligatory on him in both cases. However, knowledge of the obligation of kaffāra is not a condition for its obligation.
Issue 127: If a person misses a fast during Ramaḍān, whether with a valid excuse or without, he must make up for it during other days of the year, except on the days of Eid al-Fiṭr and Eid al-Aḍḥa, when fasting is strictly forbidden. There are exceptions to the obligation of making up missed fasts:
1. A person who remains ill throughout the year until the next Ramaḍān, making it impossible to make up the missed fasts, is exempt from making up the fasts but must give a fidya (compensation). This involves giving approximately 750 grams of food to a poor person for each missed fast.
2. Elderly people for whom fasting is extremely difficult and burdensome are exempt from both fasting and making up the missed fasts, but must give a fidya for each day. If fasting is completely impossible for them, even fidya is not required.
3. A person with a condition that prevents him from becoming satiated, no matter how much water he drinks, has the same ruling as the elderly.
Issue 128: A woman close to childbirth (in the eighth or ninth month of pregnancy) who finds fasting harmful to herself or her baby, and a breastfeeding woman whose milk is insufficient and finds fasting harmful to herself or her baby, may break their fast during Ramaḍān but must make up for it later and give fidya for each missed day.
Issue 129: It is recommended as a precaution that a person who needs to make up fasts from Ramaḍān does so within the same year and before the next Ramaḍān. If someone deliberately delays making up the missed fasts, in addition to making them up, he must also give approximately 750 grams of food to a poor person for each day. If the delay was not intentional, giving fidya is necessary as an obligatory precaution.
Issue 130: A person making up a missed fast from Ramaḍān is not permitted to break the fast after midday (Adhān al-Ẓuhr). If he does so, he must pay kaffāra by feeding ten poor people, giving each of them 750 grams of food. If he cannot afford this, he must fast for three days.
Issue 131: A person who has missed fasts from Ramaḍān cannot perform recommended (mustaḥab) fasts. However, if he has other obligatory fasts to perform, such as expiatory fasts (kaffāra) or has qaḍā fasts other than from Ramaḍān, recommended fasts observed by him will be in order.