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Controversial miscellaneous issues related to Islam
Fasting in Islam
Validity of Fasting
The validity of fasting depends on the following:
1- Abstaining from food, liquids and sexual activity from dawn to sunset.
2- The intention to fast must be made every day before dawn. The intention (niyyah) may be made during night before going to sleep or it can also be made at the time of Suhoor before dawn. Suhoor is eating before fasting. It should be as close to Fajr time as possible. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says: 'Partake Suhoor, for there is blessing in Suhoor.'(Bukhari, Muslim) It is desirable to break the fast as soon as possible after sunset. Breaking the fast with dates or water is a tradition of the Prophet.
When is the fast considered invalid
These are two types classified according to the penalty caused by fast invalidity.
One type require only making up missed days (Qada), the other one not only requires Qada but also a penalty (Kaffarah).
The following are the things that invalidate the fast and require making up for missed days only:
a- Eating or drinking intentionally. This includes non-nourishing items taken by mouth.
b- Deliberately causing oneself to throw up.
c- The beginning of menstruation or post-childbirth bleeding even in the last moment before sunset.
d- Ejaculation for reasons other than sexual intercourse.
e- Intending to break the fast before sunset even if one changes his mind, since intention is one of the pre-requisites of the validity of fasting.
f- Eating, drinking or having intercourse after dawn on the mistaken assumption that it is not dawn yet. Similarly, engaging in these acts before Maghrib on the mistaken assumption that it is already sunset.
Things that not only require making up for missed days but also a penalty are the following:
During the fasting period, if one deliberately breaks his or her fast, s/he must free one slave, or fast for sixty continuous days, or feed sixty needy persons, or spend in charity an amount equal to feeding sixty persons.
If one chooses to fast sixty days and the continuity is interrupted for any reason, except menstruation, one has to start the sixty day cycle all over again.
What does not break the fast:
a- If anyone forgets that he is fasting and eats or drinks, he should complete his fast, for it is only Allah who has fed him and given him drink. (A Hadith from Muslim).
b- Unintentional vomiting.
c- Swallowing things which are not possible to avoid, such as one's saliva, street dust, smoke, etc.
d- Brushing the teeth.
e- Injection or intra-venous which is solely medical and not nutritional.
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