Rules of Fasting - A Refresher‏ (English Article)

ACTIONS THAT BREAK THE FAST

Rule: By eating, drinking or having intercourse breaks the fast when you are aware that you are fasting and if you forget that you were fasting and eat or drank or had intercourse, then the fast will not break [Hidaya, Alamgiri, Qazi Khan etc.].

Rule: The fast will break if you smoked a cigarette or other form of smoke inhalation or cigar etc.

Rule: The fast also breaks by eating a paan or tobacco, even if you spit out the contents.

Rule: If you put sugar, sweet, chewing gum or any item in your mouth which dissolves and you swallow the taste then the fast will break.

Rule: If there was something stuck in your teeth the same size or larger than a chick pea and you swallowed it or it was smaller than a chick pea and you took it out of your mouth and then swallowed it again then the fast will break. Rule: If your gums bled and the blood was more or equal to your saliva and went down your throat or was less than the saliva and it went down your throat and you could taste it then the fast will break. If the blood was less than the saliva and you couldn't feel the taste and it went down your throat, then the Roza will not break [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

Rule: If a syringe is used or medicine is put up your nostrils or oil or medicine is put inside the ears then the fast will break, however, if water is put into or goes into the ears then the fast will not break [Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: If you were cleaning your mouth out or was cleaning your nostrils and water went down your throat by mistake or went up too far in your nostrils that it went in your mouth canal even by mistake then the fast will break, if however, you forgot that you were fasting then the fast will not break [Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: If you drank water or eat something whilst you were sleeping or your mouth was open and water went down your throat or snow went down your throat then the fast will break [Johra, Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: To swallow someone else's saliva or to take your own saliva in your hand and then swallowing it will break the fast [Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: If you put a coloured thread in your mouth and your saliva became coloured and then you swallowed the saliva, then the fast will break [Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: If tears went into the mouth and it was only a drop or two then the fast will not break and if it is more and the taste is felt in the whole mouth then the fast will break, the same rule applies to sweat [Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: If a man kissed a woman or touched her or hugged her or copulated with her or embraced her and then ejaculated the fast would break and if the woman touched a man and the man ejaculated then the fast would not break. If a man touches a woman on her clothing and her clothing is so thick that the body warmth cannot be felt then the fast will not break even if he ejaculates.

Rule: If a mouthful vomit is done purposely and you are aware that you are fasting then the fast will break and if small amounts are vomited then the fast will not break [Durr-e-Mukhtar, etc.].

Rule: If vomit occurs on it's own without control then whether, it be a small amount or large the fast will not break [Durr-e-Mukhtar].

Rule: The rule of vomit applies when the vomit consists of food or liquid or blood, if the vomit consists of just phlegm then the fast will not break regardless of situation [Alamgiri].

Rule: If in Ramadan a person without cause openly eats or drinks then the rule for an Islamic judge is to execute them [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar, Bahar].

Actions that break the fast but only Qaza is necessary

Rule: If you were under the impression that the break of dawn had not yet occurred and therefore you eat, drank or had sexual intercourse and then later on found out that the break of dawn had already happened, then the fast will not count and only Qaza is necessary [Durr-e-Mukhtar].

Rule: If you were forced into eating or drinking and someone threatened you (either to kill you or cause you serious harm) if you did not break your fast then even if you eat with your own hands, only Qaza is necessary [Durr-e-Mukhtar etc.]. Meaning only one fast has to be performed to replace the one broken [Bahar-e-Shariat].

Rule: If you had eatenor drank or had intercourse by mistake or you ejaculated just by seeing something or had a wet dream and then you thought that the fast had broken and therefore you deliberately eat or drank etc. then it is only compulsory to perform Qaza [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

Rule: If you put ear drops in your ear or there was a wound on your stomach or head and you put medication on it and it reached the stomach or brain or you took on a drip (of glucose) or you sucked up medicine up your nose or you eat a stone, soil, cotton, paper, grass or any item where people would not generally eat and would think awful of, or stayed in Ramadan as if in Roza but did not make an intention of fasting, or did not make an intention in the morning but made an intention before midday and then eat after midday, or made an intention of fasting but not for Ramadan or raindrops or snow went down the throat or drank many drops of tears or sweat or had intercourse on a thigh or stomach or kissed a woman on her lips or touched a woman and even if there was a piece of cloth in between but the warmth of the body is felt and in these situations you ejaculated or except for the fast of Ramadan you broke another fast whether it be the Qaza of Ramadan, or a woman was sleeping whilst she was fasting and someone had intercourse with her whilst in her sleep or a woman was in her sense in the morning and she made the intention of fasting and then she went insane and whilst in this situation sexual intercourse was committed with her, or you were under the impression that it is night and you had food or you were in doubt that it was night but you had food but in fact the morning had broken, or you thought that the sun had set and you eat but the sun had not set or two people gave witness that the sun had set and two people gave witness that it was still day and this situation you eat food then in ALL the above situations only Qaza is necessary not Kaffara [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar, etc.].

Rule: When a child reaches the age of ten and they have the strength to keep a fast then they should be forced to keep a fast and if necessary they should be hit and if the strength is seen and then they break the fast then they are not to be given the order of Qaza, however, if the Namaz is broken then they should be made to repeat it [Radd-ul-Mohtar, Bahar]. If someone was having intercourse before dawn and as soon as dawn occurred they separated then there is no harm but if they continued then Qaza is necessary not Kaffara [Radd-ul-Mohtar].

Rule: If you were having intercourse by mistake and you separated as soon as you remembered then there is no harm and if you continued then Qaza is necessary not Kaffara [Radd-ul-Mohtar].

Rule: A deceased person had some Qaza that he had to perform then the Wali (next of kin) should give Fidya (money to replace the fast) to the poor but this is only necessary when the deceased had made a will and left some property behind and if this is not the case then it is not necessary for the Wali to give Fidya, however, it is better if they do so [Bahar-e-Shariat].

Actions that break the fast and Kaffara is also necessary

If the fast of Ramadan is purposely broken then Kaffara is necessary. The Kaffara (compensation) is either to free one slave and if this is not possible then keep sixty fasts consecutively without a gap and if this is also not possible then feed fully sixty beggars twice in a day. If the sixty fasts are kept and in the middle even if one day's fast is missed then you must start the sixty again the previous ones will not count. If someone had kept fifty nine fasts and was unable to keep the sixtieth due to illness etc. then they must start again the previous fifty nine are wasted. However, if a woman starts her period in between then she must miss them and continue the fasts once she becomes clean and the previous fasts before the period started will count and when completing sixty the Kaffara will be completed [Radd-ul-Mohtar, Bahar, Alamgiri]. When breaking the fast and for Kaffara to become necessary there are a few conditions that have to be fulfilled and only then the Kaffara become necessary.

Conditions where Kaffara become necessary

1. A fast is kept in the month of Ramadan with the intention of keeping a fast of Ramadan.

2. The person keeping the fast is a resident and not a traveller.

3. The person is an adult and is sane (if a child or madman breaks the fast then Kaffara is not necessary).

4. The intention for the fast of Ramadan was done at night (if the intention for the fast was made in the day before midday and then broken then only Qaza is necessary not Kaffara).

5 After breaking the fast an act occurred which gives reason to miss a fast which you had no control over such as a woman started her period or such an illness occurred where it is allowed to miss a fast then the Kaffara will not be necessary. If however, after breaking the fast a person became a Ma'zoor (had a problem) which was within their control such as a person injured themselves and therefore became Ma'zoor or became a traveller then the Kaffara will not be cancelled as these things are within their control and Kaffara becomes necessary [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Johra, Alamgiri, Bahar].

Rule: A person fasting purposely eat or drank some medicine or tablets or drank water or had something to eat or drink for pleasure or had intercourse in the front or back passage with a person capable of having intercourse (male or female) and whether they had an orgasm or not or had intercourse with another person fasting then in all these situations both Qaza and Kaffara is necessary.

Rule: If such an act is done whereby the thought is that the fast will not break(except eating, drinking or having intercourse), but you thought that the fast has broken and then you eat or drank, for example, you extracted blood or put on Surma (eye colour) or you had intercourse  or touched a woman or kissed a woman or laid next to a woman or performed foreplay but in all these cases you did not reach orgasm i.e. did not ejaculate and then after this you purposely eat or drank then in all these cases it is necessary to perform Qaza and Kaffara.

If however, an act is performed where the thought is that the fast does not break and you thought that the fast had broken and a Mufti (Islamic jurist) gave a Fatwa and the Mufti is respected within the local community and the Fatwa is that the fast has broken and then you purposely eat or drank, or you had wrongly misinterpreted a Hadith and thought that the fast had broken and then you eat and drank, then the Kaffara is not necessary even though the Fatwa is wrong or the Hadith heard is not proven [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

Acts that do not break the fast

Rule: If you eat, drink or have sexual intercourse by mistake then the fast does not break.

Rule: If a fly, smoke or dust goes down the throat then the fast does not break, however, if you purposely inhaled smoke then the fast will break if you know that you are fasting. For example, incense, loban was lighted and was brought near the mouth and the smoke was sucked up the nose, then the fast will break.

Rule: If you apply oil or lotion or surma on the body or eyes then the fast will not break and if the taste of the oil or surma is felt in the throat or if the saliva is coloured due to the surma then the fast will still not break [Radd-ul-Mohtar, Johra, Bahar].

Rule: If a fly goes down the throat then the fast will not break and if it is deliberately swallowed then the fast will break [Alamgiri, Bahar]. If whilst talking the lips got wet or you cleared your throat and then drank the saliva, then the fast will not break but you should refrain from doing this [Alamgiri, Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar, Bahar]

Rule: If your gums bled and the blood reached the throat but did not go down it, then the fast will not break [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Fatahul Qadir].

Rule: If you were eating by mistake and as soon as you remembered you spat out the food then the fast will not break and if you swallowed the food then the fast will break [Alamgiri].

Rule: You started eating (sehri) before the break of dawn and whilst you were eating you saw that the morning had broken and you spat out the food in your mouth then the fast will not break and if you swallowed the food then the fast will break [Alamgiri].

Rule: If you chewed a linseed or something of equivalent size and it went down the throat with your saiiva then the fast will not break, if however, you felt the taste of it then the fast will break [Fatahul Qadir].

Rule: If medicine is grounded or flour is sieved and you felt the taste in your throat then the fast will not break [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Fatahul Qadir etc.].

Rule: If water went inside the ears then the fast will not break [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Fatahul Qadir]

Rule: If you talked badly about someone behind their back then the fast will not break, however to backbite is a very large sin. It is stated in the Holy Quran that to backbite is the same as eating the flesh of one's dead brother, it is quoted in the Hadith Sharif that backbiting is worse than adultery and by backbiting the light (Noor) of fasting will disappear [Durr-e-Mukhtar].

Rule: If you kissed but did not ejaculate then the fast does not break, and in the same way you looked at a woman or her private parts but did not touch her and ejaculated or reached orgasm even though you looked many times or you thought about intercourse for a long time or kept on thinking about sexual activities and then ejaculated, then in all these situations the fast will not break [Johra, Durr-e-Mukhtar].

Rule: 'If you had a wet dream (nocturnal emission) then the fast will not break.

Rule: If you remained in a state where bathing is obligatory (Junub) until the morning, in fact remained like that all day then the fast will not break, however to remain like that so that you miss a Namaz is Haram and it is quoted in the Hadith Sharif that where there is a Junub person in a house the angels of mercy do not enter the house [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

Acts that make the fast Makrooh

Rule: To lie, backbite, tell-tale, to swear, talk shamelessly, to cause someone harm are all Haram acts anyway, but to do these acts whilst fasting are even more Haram and because of this the fast become Makrooh.

Rule: For a fasting person to taste or chew something without reason then the fast becomes Makrooh. The acceptable reason is when a husband or master is very short tempered and due to there being less salt will cause him disappointment then to taste (but not swallow) will not make the fast Makrooh. Another reason is when there is a small child or elderly or disabled person who cannot chew a chappati or bread and there is no other person available who is not fasting then the fast will not become Makrooh [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

Definition of tasting

Tasting something is not what is known as today where to taste something a few bites are taken or a few sips are taken, never mind tasting this will break the fast and if the conditions of Kaffara apply then Kaffara will become necessary. Tasting is to put something on the tongue and the taste is identified and then the food is spat out and none of it goes down the throat then the fast will not break and if something goes down the throat then the fast will break. Rule: If an item is purchased and it is necessary to taste it otherwise you would suffer a loss then you can taste it and the fast will not become Makrooh [Durr-e-Mukhtar].

Rule: To kiss a woman or to embrace her or to touch her is Makrooh when the fear is that you may ejaculate or may be tempted to have sexual intercourse and to kiss her on the lips or to suck her tongue is even more Makrooh and in the same way to perform foreplay is also Makrooh [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

To smell a rose or musk (perfume) etc. and. to put oil on the beard or mouchtache or to put on surma is not Makrooh as long as the surma is applied to look handsome or the oil is put on so that the beard will grow, and if the beard is a fist in length then it is Makrooh even when not fasting and if you are fasting then the Makrooh is even more [Durr-e-Mukhtar].

Rule: Whilst fasting, for a person to clean the nose or mouth with too much water and exaggeration is Makrooh, exaggeration in washing the mouth means to fill the whole mouth with water.

Rule: Except for bathing or Wuzu to put water in the mouth or up the nose to cool down or wash the body or put on a wet cloth to cool down is not Makrooh, however, if you do this to show that you are suffering i.e. to put on a wet cloth, then it is Makrooh because to have a small heart for worship is not a good thing [Alamgih, Radd-ul-Mohtar, Bahar].

Rule: To gather saliva in the mouth and then to swallow even without fasting is not a good thing but it is Makrooh whilst fasting [Alamgiri, Bahar].

To perform Miswaak whilst fasting is not Makrooh, in fact just as it is Sunnat to perform Miswaak on other days it is also Sunnat whilst fasting.