| Question ID 3912 - Fasting (Sawm) |
| Salaamu alaikum,
I live in a Western European Northern country where I have only 4,5 hours to eat, as iftar starts at 22:07 and imsaak starts at 02:45. I find it hard to put in words how lonely and difficult the experience of Summer Ramadan has been for me in the last few years. Yesterday I took a pre-iftar nap, overslept through my many alarms (I live alone and have no one to wake me up), and missed out on both iftar and sohoor. I woke up extremely thirsty, disappointed, and with a stomach ache that almost made me nauseous. I still planned on fasting, but later in the morning felt light-headed and weak. I knew that if I continued to fast, my next iftar will be after a total of 42 hours of no drinking/eating, so I broke my fast, reluctantly and with a great deal of guilt. I don’t have a job where I can just stay away or take a day off without consequences, and unambitious Muslims have advised to go for a job that’s less demanding and lower on the social ladder, but that’s not an option I want to live with. Did I do right by this? What would be the right thing to do for the next time this happens? I understand I have to pay Kaffara and perform Qadha. |
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Answer:- Breaking the fast for just hunger or thirst or tiredness is not allowed and you need to seek forgiveness, pay kaffara of feeding sixty poor believers and keep Qadha of that day, but if you broke your fast due to a health issue which prevents you from fasting, then you need to fast for that day later as Qadha.
Fasting is easy for human beings even during the summer, but keep in mind that more suffering brings more reward and Spritual upliftment.
Wassalam
Mohammad Al-Musawi
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