Sawm

The sawm (fasting) during the month of Ramadan is the third pillar of Islam, and fard for every Muslim. The goal of fasting is to gain the fear of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala).

In the month of Ramadan, sawm is fard for all Muslims, who:
• are mentally healthy,
• are baligh,
• do not have hayd or nifas,
• are healthy
• and are muqim.

Sawm is not fard for:
• non-muslims,
• mentally disabled,
• kids, who are not baligh yet,
• women, who have their hayd or nifas,
• those who are ill or musafir

Those who do not fast during the Ramadan month because they are traveling or sick must fast the missed fasting days later on. Nevertheless, the sawm on travels is valid and is considered particularly virtuous. The sawm of children is valid and virtuous, and brings a divine reward. Whoever eats during the night, in order to strengthen himself for the sawm the next day, receives a divine reward. This meal is called Sahur. In addition, one obtains divine reward if one breaks the sawm as early as possible (i.e., immediately after the time of Iftar (fast-breaking) has begun), and does the breaking with dates or water, or recites the following dua before breaking the sawm:

"With the name of Allah (I break my sawm). 0 Allah, I fasted for You and broke my fast with what You provided for me. Accept my worship! Indeed, You are All-Hearing and All-Knowing."

Conditions for the Validity of Sawm

The niyyah (intention)
It is necessary to make a niyyah for the rida of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala), so that the sawm has a chance of being accepted by Allah the Exalted. Whoever renounces food, drink, and the other things which are not allowed for a fasting Muslim, but did not make the niyyah, his sawm is not an ibadah and will not be accepted by Allah the Exalted.

For the validity of the niyyah, it is sufficient that one knows in his heart that he fasts for the rida of Allah the Exalted.

To be free from hayd or nifas:
As long as women have their hayd or nifas, they cannot fast. They have to fast the missed fasting days (qada) at a later date.

The period of sawm and the period of making the niyyah:

The sawm begins with the break of dawn and ends with the sunset. It is sufficient to make the niyyah with the heart; one does not need to pronounce it in addition. It is also a valid niyyah if one gets up before dawn to eat or drink something. Nevertheless, many scholars recommend the enunciation of the niyyah to prevent any waswasah (doubts) about the validity of his sawm.

For the validity of fard fasting (such as fasting during Ramadan) and the nafila fasting, it is necessary that the niyyah is made between sundown prior to the fasting day and the entry of makruh time of dhuhr salah of the fasting day. The same stands for vow-fasting, where the one who vows to fast on certain fixed days.

Although the intention of the sawm may be made shortly before noon, all fasting rules must still be observed from the break of dawn. Each day of fasting in Ramadan is an ibadah of its own. Therefore, the niyyah should be made separately for each day of fasting in Ramadan. When making up missed fasting days and in kaffarat fasting (expiation fasting), the intention has to be made before dawn (fajr). This also applies to vow fasting, in which the time of fasting has not been set in the taking of the oath.

In all types of sawm, one must therefore decide in the night before the day of fasting that he is going to fast the next day. This does not mean that one must observe the fasting rules from the moment he has made the intention. One can eat and drink until the dawn has broken, because the day of fasting does not begin before dawn. Travelers, the ill, pregnant women, or mothers who are breastfeeding with the apprehension that their child could be harmed by their sawm, may postpone the sawm and make it up at a later date. Very old and weak people have to pay a fidya in the form of food or money to poor Muslims for the days they were too weak to fast.

Circumstances that do not cause the sawm to break:
 

• Whoever eats, drinks, or has sexual intercourse out of forgetfulness does not break his fast. But if he remembers while eating, drinking, or having sexual intercourse that he is fasting, then he must quit the prohibited act immediately; otherwise, he has broken his sawm. Whoever sees a fasting person eat or drink by mistake must immediately remind that person that he or she is fasting. However, if the person eating or drinking by mistake is struggling to maintain their fast, warning them is not necessary.
• Ejaculation that occurs during sleep (and not through physical contact) does not break the fast.
• Remaining in the state of janabah until after the break of dawn does not affect the validity of the fast.
• Swallowing saliva that has accumulated in the mouth, or moisture that is left after performing wudu or ghusl in the oral cavity, does not break the fast.
• The penetration of water into the ear.
• The accidental inhalation of smoke or ingestion of dust, insects, or the like.
• Unintentional vomiting, regardless of the amount of the vomit.
• To use kohl for the eyes. (Kohl is a type of beneficial eyeliner traditionally used by Muslim men.)
• Extraction of blood.
• Touching the spouse without leading to ejaculation.
• To reach ejaculation or orgasm by thought alone, without touching oneself or one's spouse.

Circumstances that make sawm invalid and require making up for the fast:

• The eating of substances that are not normally eaten, such as coal, raw rice, flour, raw bread dough, earth, stones, etc.
• The insertion of drugs into the anus or sexual organ.
• The use of medicinal drops in the nose or ears.
• The accidental ingestion of raindrops, hailstones, or snowflakes.
• The accidental ingestion of water when rinsing the mouth or cleaning the nose (during wudu).
• Eating and drinking after dawn under the mistaken assumption that dawn had not yet occurred.
• Breaking the fast before sunset under the mistaken assumption that the sun had already set.
• Ejaculation occurring without intercourse, merely through touching or kissing the spouse, or by masturbation.
• If a resident person who started fasting on the same day begins to travel during the day and then breaks the fast.
• When a vaccine or drug is administered by injection.

If a traveler returns to his home by dawn, or a patient becomes healthy again, or a woman’s postpartum bleeding ends, then these individuals should behave for the rest of the day as if they are fasting:

They keep on fasting until sunset. Nevertheless, they have to compensate for that day later on.

Circumstances that make sawm invalid and require compensation for the fast along with kaffarah (expiation):

• • The intentional eating, drinking, or intercourse.
  • The deliberate ingestion of raindrops, hailstones, or snowflakes.
  • Smoking cigarettes, pipes, or the like.
  • Eating, drinking, or having intercourse deliberately after mistakenly thinking that the fast has been broken for an invalid reason, such as saying, "My fast has been broken because I have slandered," or “I donated blood, so my fast is broken.”

The Kaffarat (Atonement for Intentional Breaking of the Fast)

There are different types of kaffarat. These are hierarchical; therefore, you cannot choose freely what you want to provide as atonement. Only when one is not able to provide the primarily designated form of the atonement must one resort to the kaffarat that comes in the next lower rank.

The first and primarily mandatory option is continuous fasting for two months (according to the lunar calendar) at a time. So, one has to spend 60 (or 59) days in a row—without a single day left out—in continuous fasting. Together with the day one missed out, this results in 61 (or 60) days that one has to fast.

If one, for health reasons, is not able to fast two months continuously, then one can feed a deprived, poor local Muslim for 60 days in the morning and in the evening, or 60 Muslims in need, also twice for one day.

When women offer expiatory fasting, their period does not affect its validity. They must continue with the fasting when the menstrual bleeding ends.

An expiation is only required if you have broken the obligatory fast during Ramadan. If you break a sawm outside the month of Ramadan—even if it is a qada fast—no kaffarat is required. In this case, one only fasts for the number of days on which they broke the qada fasts.

If one does not make the niyyah to fast in the month of Ramadan, then this person must only fast the qada for the days he has missed and no kaffarat is required.

But one should not let this distinction tempt them to not fast during Ramadan, because for someone who is obligated to fast during Ramadan, it is a great sin not to fast during this holy month. But if one has inadvertently failed to grasp the intention, this is not a sin, and they simply have to fast the missed days later.

Briefly: an atonement for the sawm is only required if one has deliberately broken the fast without having a valid excuse and has already begun fasting in Ramadan.

Fidya (Compensation for the Inability to Fast)

Muslims who are so old and so weak that they are no longer able to fast are not obligated to fast. Decrepit or chronically ill people who are not in a position to fast and will not be able to compensate for this fasting later on must compensate for it in a different way.

For every day of fasting they are incapable of observing in Ramadan, they must give food so that the poor can eat for a day, with one meal in the morning and one in the evening, or donate the equivalent of two meals to a needy Muslim. The monetary value of fidya depends on local food prices. Therefore, the fidya varies from place to place and from time to time.