The Summary of ^Abdullah al-Harariyy - Fasting
Article Index
Fasting
- Chapter 1 Who Must Fast
- Chapter 2 Integrals of Fasting (Siyam)
- Chapter 3 Days on which Fasting is Unlawful
Fasting
Chapter 1 Who Must Fast
Every accountable Muslim is obligated to fast the month of Ramadan. The fast of a menstruating or postpartum-bleeding woman is not valid; however, they have to make up the missed days.
Even if fasting is not tedious, it is permissible for the traveler of a shortening distance (qasr) not to fast. Breaking the fast is permissible for the sick person, the pregnant woman, and the nursing woman who cannot bear the hardship of fasting. However, making up the missed days is obligatory.
Chapter 2 Integrals of Fasting (Siyam)
It is obligatory :
1. Each night to make the intention to fast the following day;
2. To abstain from sexual intercourse, masturbation, and inserting anything with a volume into the head or the body cavity through an open inlet, excluding one's pure, tahir saliva while inside the mouth.
One's fasting is valid as long as one does not become insane, even if it were for a moment, and if one does not lose consciousness the whole day, i.e., from dawn until sunset.
Chapter 3 Days on which Fasting is Unlawful
It is invalid to fast the day of the Feast of Fitr (^Id-ul-Fitr), the day of the Feast of Adha (^Id-ul-'Adha), and the three days after the day of Adha (Tashriq). It is also invalid to fast the last half of Sha^ban, and the day of doubt except if one joins the fasting of these with those before them or if one is fasting for an expiation (kaffarah), make-up (qada'), vow (nadhr), or habitual practice (wird), like the one who usually fasts Mondays and Thursdays.
Invalidating the fast of one day of Ramadan by engaging in sexual intercourse without an excuse is sinful. One must make it up immediately, and one must fulfill an expiation of dhihar. The expiation of dhihar is to free a Muslim slave; if one is unable he fasts two consecutive lunar months; and if one is unable he feeds sixty poor Muslims. To feed sixty poor Muslims means to give every one of them a mudd of wheat or another grain--whichever is the most common staple food in that town. The mudd is the fill of two cupped, average-sized hands.
