"O those who believe, the fasts have been enjoined upon you as were enjoined upon those before you so that you be God-fearing. Days (of fasting are) few in number. However, should anyone of you be sick or on a journey, then a number from other days. And those who have the strength, on them there is a ransom: the feeding of a poor person. Then whoever does good voluntarily, that is better for him. And that you fast is better for you, if you know." (2:182-183)

Commentary

Literally, Sawm means 'to abstain'. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means 'to abstain from eating, drinking and sexual inter­course; with the conditions that one abstains continuously from dawn to sunset, and that there is an intention to fast'.

Therefore, should one eat or drink anything even a minute before sunset, the fast will not be valid. Similarly, if one abstained from all these things throughout the day but made no intention to fast, there will be no fast here too.

Sawm or 'fasting' is an 'ibadah, an act of worship in Islam, regarded as its pillar and sign. The merits of fasting are too numerous to be taken up at this point.

Past Communities And The Injunction To Fast

The verse makes it obligatory for the Muslims to fast in a specified period, but the command in this respect has been accompanied by the statement that the obligation of fasting is not peculiar to them. The fasting had also been enjoined upon the earlier Ummahs (communities of the past prophets). The reference to the earlier Ummahs in the verse shows the importance of fasting on the one hand, and gives an encouragement to the Muslims on the other. It indicates that although there may be some inconvenience in fasting but the same inconven­ience was also faced by the earlier communities. This brings a psycho­logical comfort to the Muslims, because if an inconvenience is faced by a large number of people, it becomes easier to bear, (Ruh al-Ma'ani)

The words of the Qur'an, (those before you) have been used in a general sense including all religious communities from Sayyidna Adam to the last of the Prophets (A.S). This tells us that, like Salah, fasting has also been enjoined upon every Ummah of every prophet without an exception.

Commentators who interpret min qablikum (before you) to mean 'the Christians' take it just as an example, not aiming to exclude other Communities. (Ruh al-Ma'ani)

The verse simply says that fasts have been enjoined on Muslims as were enjoined on past communities. From this it does not necessarily follow that the fasts enjoined upon the earlier communities were fully indentical in all respects with the fasts enjoined upon this Ummah. There may have been differences in the number and the timings of the fasts etc. and, actually, there has been such a difference. (Ruh al Ma'ani)

By saying (so that you be God-fearing), the text has pointed out to the inherent quality of fasting which contributes significantly to one's ability to become abstaining from the sins and God-fearing. Fasting grows into man a power which helps him control his desires, which is really the foundation of Taqwa, the very special term of the Holy Qur'an which has been tentatively translated as fear of God, abstinence, and the warding of evil.

Fasting When Sick

Verse 184 gives concession in the matter of fasting to a 'sick' person and to a person 'on journey'. The word 'sick' used here refers to a person who cannot fast without an unbearable hardship or has strong apprehension that his illness will be aggravated. The words "and (Allah) does not want hardship for you"occuring in the following verse (185) have a clear indication to this effect. This position is also accepted by the consensus of the Muslim jurists.

Fasting When In Travel

It will be noticed that while giving concession to a traveller, the Qur'anic text elects to use the phrase aw a'ala safarin (or on a journey) rather than the word, musafir or 'traveller'. This is to point out that leaving home and going out is not enough to claim the exemption. The duration of the travel should be somewhat longer since the expression, 'ala safarin means that one should have 'embarked' on a journey which does not mean going five or ten miles away from home. But, the precise duration of this journey has not been mentioned in the words of the Holy Qur'an. Guided by the statement of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and the subsequent practice of his blessed Companions, the great Imam, Abu Hanifah and many jurists have fixed this distance to be what can be covered in three days by walking in three daily stages. The later-day jurists have put it as 48 miles.

The other ruling that comes out from the same phrase, 'ala safarin is that a traveller who leaves his home shall be entitled to having been exempted from fasting only upto the time his travel continues. It is obvious that stopping in between to rest or take care of something does not cut off his onward travel in the absolute sense, unless his stay be for a considerable period of time. This very considerable period of time has been set at fifteen days following a statement of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. Anyone who intends to stay at a given place for fifteen days shall not come under the umbrella of 'ala safarin, therefore, he shall not be deserving of the leave granted to one on 'a journey'.

Ruling

Right from here comes the ruling that anyone who intends to stay out for fifteen days, not at one place but at different places and towns, he shall continue to remain in the status of a 'traveller' and thereby shall continue to enjoy the concession of being 'on a journey' because he is in the state of ala safarin.

Making Qada' Of The Missed Fast

The words of the text, literally translated as 'then, a number from other days' mean that a sick person or a traveller is obligated to fast during other days making the number match the number of days he could not fast. The purpose is to tell people that fasts abandoned because of the compulsion of sickness or journey must be replaced by making qada' of them. Rather than using a simple statement to the effect that 'their replacement is on them', the Qur'anic text has said: which suggests that a sick person or a traveller will have to make qada' only when the sick person becomes healthy and the traveller returns home and gets to live on for the number of days he is required to replace the fasts he missed. So, one who dies before this happens, qada' of fasts will not remain obligatory on him, nor will he be required to make a will for the payment of ransom (Fidyah).

Ruling

In the Qur'anic provision, 'a number from other days', there is no restriction on qada' fasts, they could be seriatim or random; the choice is open. Therefore, a person who has missed his fasts for the first ten days of Ramadan, could first fast in lieu of his tenth or ninth fast of Ramadan and replace the earlier ones missed later on; this brings no harm. Similarly, one can fast with gaps at his convenience which would be quite permissible since the wordings of the Qur'an in (then, a number from other days) leave the possibility open.

The Fidyah Or Ransom For A Missed Fast

The verse means that those who have the strength to fast and are not restricted by sickness or travel, but do not wish to do it for some reason, they have the option of paying, in lieu of a fast, ransom in the form of charity. However, along with this leave, it was simply added: 'And that you fast is better for you'.

This injunction was valid in the early days of Islam when the purpose was to familiarize people to fasting. In the verse that follows, that is, (so, those of you who witness the month must fast therein), this injunction was abrogated for normal people. However, according to the consensus of the Ummah, it remained applicable to the people of very old age and to those who suffer from a permanent illness with no hope of recovery (Jassas and Mazhari).

All Imams of Hadith, such as, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, al-Tirmidhi, al-Tabarani and others (may Allaah have mercy on them all) have reported from the blessed Companion Salma ibn Akwa' (radiallahu 'anh): 'When the verse (and on those who have the strength) was revealed, we were given the choice of either fasting or paying fidyah for each fast. However, when the other verse, (those of you who witness the month must fast therein), was revealed, this choice was withdrawn and fasting alone became necessary for those who had the strength.'

A long hadith from the blessed Companion, Mu'adh ibn Jabal Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him reported in the Musnad of Ahmad describes three changes that came in Salah during the early period of Islam, as well as, three changes in Sawm. The three changes brought in the injunctions of fasting are as follows:

When the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him came to Madinah, he used to fast for three days in a month, and on the tenth of Muharram. Then the command to observe fasts in the month of Ramadan was revealed. Under the verse (the fasts have been enjoined upon you), there was an option either to fast or to pay ransom, with a preference given to fasting. Then, Allah Almighty revealed the other verse, (those of you who witness the month must fast therein), which took away the option given to those who had the strength, and ordained fasting as the only alternative. However, the command remained valid for the very old who could pay ransom for fasts they missed.

After these two changes, there was a third change. In the beginning, the permission to eat, drink and have marital intimacy after iftar was valid only if one did not sleep after breaking his fast Sleeping was taken to be an indicator of the beginning of the next fast in which, naturally, eating and drinking and marital intimacy are prohibited. Then, Allah Almighty revealed the verse, (It is made lawful for you, in the nights of fast, to have sex with your women), which made it permissible to eat, drink and have sex during the night until the break of dawn.

The eating of suhur or sehri soon after getting up in the early hours of dawn was declared to be the sunnah. This is corroborated by ahadith in al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawud. (Ibn Kathir)

The Amount Of Ransom And Other Rulings

The ransom of one missed fast is half sa' of wheat, or its cost. Half sa' is equivalent to approximately 1.632 kilograms. After finding out the correct market price of wheat, the amount should be given to a poor person which will be the ransom of one missed fast. It should be borne in mind that this amount should not be given as part of wages given to those engaged in the service of a mosque or madrasah.

Ruling 1. The amount of ransom for one fast should not be distributed between two recipients. Similarly, it is not correct to give the ransom amount for several fasts to one person on a single date. Although, some scholars permit this, yet, as a matter of precaution, it is better not to give the ransom amount of several fasts to one person on one single date. However, if someone does not observe this precaution, the ransom may be treated as valid. (See Shami, Bayan al-Qur'an, Imdad al-Fatawa)

Ruling 2. Should someone be in a position that he cannot even pay the ransom due, he should simply seek forgiveness from Allah through istighfar and have an intention in his heart that he would pay it when he Can. (Bayan al-Qur'an) (Ma'ariful Qur'an)

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 19th June 2011

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