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If
a person able to fast gives food to poor people, his kaffarah
or recompense will not be in order
Q: Three years ago I
committed a sin and broke a fast in the month of Ramadhan.
I have not given its kaffarah as yet. I want to give its kaffarah
now but the problem is that I am a married man and have to
do severe physical work for a living. It is thus very hard
for me to fast continueously for two months as kaffarah. As
far as the matter of feeding 60 poor people (masakeen) morning
and evening or one poor person twice daily for two months
is concerned, where am I to look for such poor people? I am
too busy in earning my living. Could you please tell me how
I can solve my problem? Or could you tell me the total cost
of feeding 60 poor people two times so that I can give the
money to talaba of madaris or deposit it in a mujahideen's
office? I undertake to do so personally. (N.B, Khushab)
A: Feeding 60
masakeen morning and evening will not recompense the fast
you broke. Only a person who is very old and does not have
the strength to keep fasts and there is no hope of his regaining
such strength before he dies, or a person who is so ill that
neither can he fast now nor is there any hope of his being
able to fast in the future, can feed 60 masakeen morning and
evening as kaffarah. You seem to be a strong, healthy man
Masha Allah and so there is no help but for you to fast continuously
for two months. If you begin fasting on the 1st of the Islamic
month, you shall have to fast for two continous months, or
if you begin fasting on any other day than the 1st you shall
have to fast for sixty days without break. Besides these you
will have to fast one more day in lieu of the fast you broke.
It makes no difference whether you knew about the kaffarah
for breaking a fast or not. Try to fast in the shorter, cooler
months, it will be easier. Remind yourself of the punishment
you will have to face in Aakhirah, that will give you the
courage to fast. Having intercourse with your wife at night,
does not effect the fast. Ramadhan will be of 31 or 28 days
due to traveling
Q: In Makkah Mukarramah the moon
is sighted a day or two before it is seen in Pakistan. So
if a person comes to Pakistan from Makkah in the month of
Ramadhan, and the moon is not sighted here on the evening
of the 29th what will he do? If he fasts then the total number
of his fasts will be 31 days. Similarly, if a person flies
to Makkah from Pakistan, he will be keeping 28 fasts only.
What is the ruling of shariah in this case?
(Anwar Zeb, Abbottabad)
A: If the people of Pakistan
accept this person's report of sighting the moon as per conditions
written in the authentic books of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence)
then they will celebrate Eid in accordance to his words and
keep a qadha fast but if his report is not acceted, as usually
happens, then he shall have to keep 31 fast and celebrate
Eid with the Pakistani people. The ruling for the person flying
from Pakistan to Makkah Mukarramah will be the same.
Kept fast and left for another country
Q: A person started fasting while
in Pakistan and then left for another country. Will he take
Iftar according to the time of Pakistan or will he break his
fast with the people of the country he has gone to? (Ziauddin
Siddique, Quetta)
A: He will take Iftar according
to the time of the country he has gone to. Blood from a nose-bleed
breaches fast
Q: If the blood from a nose-bleed
makes its way through the nose to the stomach will it effect
the fast? (Ziauddin, Quetta)
A: Yes, the fast will be breached.
Qadha is due only and not kaffarah or recompense. Bitten by
a snake while fasting
Q: If a snake bites a person,
will his fast be lost?
(Bashir, Karachi)
A: A fast is not lost if a person
is bitten by a snake or scorpion etc. Use of medicine to stop
menses in Ramadhan
Q: If a woman, in order to escape
keeping qadha fasts, uses medicine to stop menses during Ramadhan,
is it jaiz for her to do so? Will the medicine have any effect
on the fast?
(A woman, Karachi)
A: As long as the menses do not
start, the fasts will be in order. They will not be effected.
But the use of such medicine is permissible only on the condition
that they do not contain 'haraam' ingredients and are not
harmful for health. Size of moon on the 1st
Q: Sometimes it happens that
the moon sighted on the 1st by the Royat-e-Hilaal Committee
seems to be fuller than it should be. This puts people in
doubt and they say that it is not a new moon but one a day
old. What are Shariah's instructions about this?
(Abdullah, Karachi)
A: Shariah does not take into
account the size of the moon as long as the Royat-e-Hilaal
Committee has made the announcement in accordance to Shariah
rules.
It is written in a Hadith that Abul-Bakhtari said, "We
people set off on a journey for Umra. When we reached the
valley of Nakhla we sighted the Ramadhan moon. Some of us
said that it was two days old while others maintained that
it was three days old. Then we met Hazrat Ibn-e-Abbas (radhiallahu
ta`ala anhuma) and said: Verily we have seen the new moon.
Some of us said it is of three nights while others said it
is of two nights. He enquired: In which night have you seen
it? We said: In such and such a night. He said: Verily the
Apostle of Allah has extended it for its sight. It is of the
night you have seen it on. Rasoolullah Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam
has said that Allah Taala has set the time of Ramadahn on
sighting the moon."
(Mishkat with Al-Mirqat Vol:4,Pg474)
While explaining this Hadith Mulla Ali Qari Rahimahullah Taala
says that it is mentioned in some riwayaat that among others,
a sign of Qiyamah is also this that the new moons will appear
fuller and larger in size.
(Mirqaat, Pg474, Vol.4)
That is the reason why fuqaha have forbidden expressing doubts
when sighting a moon which appears to be bigger in size than
a new moon.
(Radd-ul-Muhtar, Pg.354, Vol.3)
For a girl to spend first Ramadhan after marriage at her parent's
home
Q: When a person gets married,
the bride spends the first Ramadhan at her parents' house.
This is considered to be her right though neither the bride
nor her husband is willing. This custom is observed just in
order to save oneself from the jeers and ridicule of the relatives.
(Anonymous, Hyderabad)
A: This is just a nonsensical
custom which has no value in the eyes of Shariah. The girl
is free to spend the first Ramadhan, with her husband's permission,
at her parent's home if she likes or at her husband's home.
Putting an end to this freedom and forcing the bride and groom
to observe the custom without their willingness is a sinful
act which must be avoided.
To continue eating till end of 'azaan'
Q: A man was late in getting
up for sehri. He started eating when only five or ten minutes
were left for the sehri time to end and continued eating till
the 'azaan' came to an end. Will his fast be deemed as correct?
Furthermor how long does the sehri time last?
(Saqlain Abbas, Jhang)
A: The correct method is to synchronize
one's watches with the standard time. Sehri should come to
an end five minutes before the time mentioned in the time-tables.
The azans broadcast from the T.V, radio or masajid should
not be depended upon because it has often happened that the
azans were called out before or after the correct time. Thus
in the case mentioned above if the person stopped eating five
minutes before the time mentioned in a authentic time tables,
his fast will be in order. If he can't be certain about the
time then he should not take a chance but keep a 'qadha' fast.
It is 'mustahabb' to take sehri close to the subh-i-sadiq
i.e in the last part of the night. If it is taken very early,
it will still not effect the fast.
Use of loudspeaker to wake people up at Sehri time
Q: In nearly every large city,
the siren sounded by the govt to wake people up at sehri is
usually loud enough to reach every home. But as soon as the
siren is switched on, a commotion and din is heard in masajid
and many people start waking the sleeping people up from 3
o'clock onwards. For the next two hours all that can be heard
on loud speakers is, 'get up, get up, it's time for sehri."
Is it permissible to do so?
(Ibne Abdul Ghaffar, Chiniot)
A: The method of waking people
mentioned above is not correct due to the following reasons.
1) There is no proof of it in Shariah.
2) It disrupts the prayers etc. of people.
3) It causes pain and distress to old and sick people.
4) It necessarily makes wrongful use of the masjid's loudspeaker
and electricity.
Thus it is not correct to wake people up for sehri in the
manner mentioned in the question.
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