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:

Assalamualikum

Can you please advice me. During the ramadan I was fasting and I vomitted. So I broke my fast and took the madicine and drank water etc.

I have read it somewhere (though i don`t remeber clearly) that if someone breaks an obligatory fast then he/she has to fast for an entire month as punishment for breaking the fast. Is this applicable to me? Is it not allowed to break obligatory fast even when one is sick? Are there any other options that I can opt for instead of fasting for an entire month like giving sadaqa to poor etc.

I will be very grateful for your reply. Jazakalllah.  

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Answer:

Vomit and fast ramadhan

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.

Your Question: During the ramadan I was fasting and I vomitted. So I broke my fast and took the madicine and drank water etc.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 18.47

Yahya related from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "If some one makes himself vomit while he is fasting he has to make up a day, but if he cannot help vomiting he does not have to make up anything."

Involuntary vomiting does not break or invalidate the fast; but in the opinion of the noble companion of the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Abdullah ibn Umar (r.a.), if a fasting person makes himself vomit voluntarily, then his fast would be invalid and he has to make up the fast at a later date.

Thus my beloved sister, if you were sick and vomited involuntarily, your fast would have been valid if you had not broken it by consuming the medicine and water. It is the consumption of medicine and water that broke your fast, not the involuntary vomit.

Your Question: I have read it somewhere (though i don`t remeber clearly) that if someone breaks an obligatory fast then he/she has to fast for an entire month as punishment for breaking the fast.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 185:

185 Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

If one breaks a voluntary non-Ramadan fast for any reason whatsoever, there is absolutely no sin or atonement for breaking the voluntary fasts. But if one breaks an obligatory fast of Ramadan for any reason, the prescribed atonement is to make up that missed fast by fasting on any other day of the year.

There is absolutely nothing in Shariah or Islamic Law which prescribes that a person who breaks the obligatory fast of Ramadan must fast a whole month as atonement for the missed fast! Allah Subhanah has Himself prescribed the atonement of missed fasts in the above verse of Surah Baqarah, and the Lord Most Merciful has prescribed that each missed fasts must be atoned by fasting the exact number of days missed at anytime of the year.

Your Question: Is it not allowed to break obligatory fast even when one is sick?

If a person is ill, or fears that one’s health might deteriorate; Allah Subhanah has absolutely granted permission for the sick to not keep or even break one’s fast half-way through the fast; and make up that missed fast by fasting at any other time of the year when they are healthy.

If a person breaks or misses the obligatory fast of Ramadan for a valid reason like traveling or sickness, and makes up that missed fast later; it is expected that their Lord Most Merciful will not diminish their reward in the least.

Your Question: Are there any other options that I can opt for instead of fasting for an entire month like giving sadaqa to poor etc.
Beloved Sister, as clarified above, the atonement prescribed in Shariah for missing one missed obligatory fast of Ramadan is to make it up by fasting only one fast for each fast missed at any other time of the year. Allah is our witness, there is absolutely no such law in Shariah that stipulates that the believer who misses one fast in Ramadan must fast an ‘entire month’ as atonement for that one missed fast!

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.

The other alternative atonement prescribed in Shariah for missing the obligatory fasts of Ramadan is to feed one poor person for each fast missed; but that atonement is for those believers who are terminally ill and have no hope for recovery even after Ramadan so that they gain their full strength to make up their missed fasts. For such terminally ill believers who are unable to keep their fasts in Ramadan, nor have hope of recovering their health so that they make up their missed fasts later; such believers are to atone for their missed fasts by feeding one poor person for each fast missed.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan