At what age is one exempted from fasting?
Mu' meneen
Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalamu alaykum.
I have one question to ask:
What is the age limit which exempts an adult from fasting during the holy month
of Ramadhan?
My father is 70 years old and I was told that he is exempted.Please
confirm,and reply as soon as
possible as fasting is coming up soon.
Ma salaam,
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
At what age is one exempted from
fasting?
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 183-184:
183 O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed to
you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn)
self-restraint.
184 (Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill or on
a journey, the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those
who can do it (with hardship) is a ransom the feeding of one that is
indigent. But he that will give more of
his own free will, it is better for him and it is better for you that ye fast,
if ye only knew.
There is no
particular age limit which would exempt a believing adult from the obligatory
fasts of Ramadan. Rather than age, the
condition of one’s health has been declared as the gauge for exemption. If one is ill, or fears that observing the
fast might deteriorate one’s health; one may abstain from fasting and atone for
this by paying the ‘fidya’ or ‘kaffarah’
of feeding one poor person for each fast missed.
It does
not matter if one is 20 years of age or a 100; what matters is the health and
condition of the person.
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister