A woman breaking her fast to make up for Ramadan in response to her husband
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Question:
What is the ruling on a woman who is fasting to make up for missed days of Ramadan, and her husband desires her, so she responds to him and breaks her fast? Does she owe an expiation for breaking the fast, given that making up the fast comes before performing it in its proper time? Please give us a ruling, and may Allah reward you.
Answer:
It is not permissible for the husband to invalidate his wife’s fast for making up missed days. If she is fasting to make up for Ramadan, it is forbidden for him to invalidate her fast. The jurists say that once one enters into an obligatory act that has a wide time frame, it is forbidden to break it. Therefore, it is not permissible for the husband to do so. This applies only to voluntary fasting; the husband may prevent his wife from voluntary fasting. As for obligatory fasting, he has no right to prevent her, neither from fasting due to illness nor from fasting to make up missed days once she has started. However, before she starts, he may ask her to delay it, saying, “Fast at the end of the month” or “Fast such and such,” meaning before she enters into the fast, he may postpone it. But if she has fasted that day, he has no right to invalidate her fast until she breaks it. Before she fasts, he may ask her to delay it so that there are not fewer days remaining in Ramadan than the number of days she owes. If there are not fewer days remaining in Ramadan than the number of days she owes, then it is obligatory for her to fast, and her husband has no right to prevent her. Aisha said:
What is the ruling on a woman who is fasting to make up for missed days of Ramadan, and her husband desires her, so she responds to him and breaks her fast? Does she owe an expiation for breaking the fast, given that making up the fast comes before performing it in its proper time? Please give us a ruling, and may Allah reward you.
Answer:
It is not permissible for the husband to invalidate his wife’s fast for making up missed days. If she is fasting to make up for Ramadan, it is forbidden for him to invalidate her fast. The jurists say that once one enters into an obligatory act that has a wide time frame, it is forbidden to break it. Therefore, it is not permissible for the husband to do so. This applies only to voluntary fasting; the husband may prevent his wife from voluntary fasting. As for obligatory fasting, he has no right to prevent her, neither from fasting due to illness nor from fasting to make up missed days once she has started. However, before she starts, he may ask her to delay it, saying, “Fast at the end of the month” or “Fast such and such,” meaning before she enters into the fast, he may postpone it. But if she has fasted that day, he has no right to invalidate her fast until she breaks it. Before she fasts, he may ask her to delay it so that there are not fewer days remaining in Ramadan than the number of days she owes. If there are not fewer days remaining in Ramadan than the number of days she owes, then it is obligatory for her to fast, and her husband has no right to prevent her. Aisha said:
I used to have days of fasting to make up, and I did not make them up except in Sha'ban, because of the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
كان يكون علي الصوم، فلا أقضيه إلا في شعبان، لمكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-17-الصيام أحكامه وفضائله|صالح الفوزان|العام|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:06:27)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.