Miscellaneous Issues on Fasting

Q 820: If a woman’s menstrual cycle starts while she is fasting on a specific day that she had vowed to perform, what should she do?
A: Her fast is void because of the menstrual cycle, and she has to perform its qadaa’ after she is clean again.

Q 821: A person fasted from the first day of Ramadan until the twenty-seventh. On the morning of the twenty-eighth day he traveled to Dubai. Arriving there on the twenty-ninth, he noticed that they had declared that day as the first of Shawwal and Eid of Fitr there. Now that he has returned to his hometown, does he have to make up for the fasts he missed? If he does qadaa’ of only one day then the month of Ramadan for him will be only twenty-eight days, and if he makes up for two days, then on the 29th day he was present in a place where the Eid was declared. What is the ruling for such a person?
A: If the twenty-ninth day of Ramadan was declared the Eid in accordance with valid and shar‘i criteria, then he does not have to perform qadaa’ for that day. But on the assumption that both places have the same horizon, it indicates that he missed fasting at the beginning of the month, which he has to make up.

Q 822: A person finished his fast in his hometown after sunset. Then on traveling to another city, he found that the sun there had not set yet. What will be the rule regarding his fasting? Can he eat and drink in the new place before sunset?
A: His fast is valid and he can eat and drink in the new place before sunset.

Q 823: A martyr had made a will asking his friend to perform the qadaa’ of some fasts on his behalf as caution. However, the martyr’s heirs do not give significance to such issues and it is not possible to put the matter before them. Moreover, fasting would involve hardship for that friend. Is there any other solution?
A: If the martyr had made a will asking the very friend to fast on his behalf, the martyr’s heirs do not have any obligation in this regard. If it is too difficult for the friend to fast, he also does not have any obligation.

Q 824: I am obsessed by doubts — or to put it precisely I am obsessive — especially in religious matters, and particularly in ritual matters. For instance, during the last Ramadan, I had a doubt whether I had swallowed some thick dust that had entered my mouth and whether I had spitted out water that I had drawn into my mouth? Is my fast valid?
A: In light of your question, your fast is valid. Such doubts have no significance.

Q 825: Is the tradition of the Cloak [Kisaa’], which is narrated by Fatimah al-Zahra (a.), a reliable tradition? Is it permissible to attribute it to her during fasting?
A: If the tradition is attributed quoting the books where it has been reported, there is no problem with it.

Q 826: I have heard from scholars and other normal people that if a person performing a mustahabb fast is invited to eat something, he can accept the invitation, and eating and drinking does not invalidate his fast nor deprive him of its reward. Please express your view on the matter.
A: Accepting a believer’s invitation is preferred by Islamic law over a mustahabb fast, and although eating and drinking breaks the fast, but it does not deprive one of the rewards for fasting.

Q 827: There are certain supplications for the month of Ramadan each of which is specified for a day in a sequence, starting with the supplication for the first day, followed by the one for the second day and so on. What is the rule on reciting them if there is a doubt as to their authenticity?
A: There is no problem in reciting them in the hope of being desired in shar‘.

Q 828: Despite having intended to fast, a person did not rise to eat the prefast meal. Therefore he could not fast the following day. Does the guilt for not fasting fall on him or on someone who did not wake him up? Also, if one fasts without eating the prefast meal, is his fast valid?
A: Breaking the fast due to inability to fast, even if due to not eating prefast meal, is not a sin. In any case others who did not wake him up are not liable to anything. Also, fasting without eating the prefast meal is valid.

Q 829: If a person is on a retreat in Masjid al-Haram in Mecca for i‘tikaf of three or more days, what rule applies to his fasting on the third day?
A: If he is a traveler and has intended a ten-day stay in Mecca or has vowed to fast while traveling, then after fasting for two days he must complete the i‘tikaf by fasting on the third day. However, if he didn’t make the intention of a ten-day stay in that place nor did he vow to fast while traveling, it is not valid for him to fast while traveling. And as the fast is invalid, the i‘tikaf in the masjid is also invalid.