What is the ruling on undergoing surgery while fasting in Ramadan?
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The questioner : Honorable Shaykh, I came from Riyadh to have surgery, and when I went to the hospital, they scheduled me for the eleventh month. This is difficult for me, and the doctor can perform the surgery in Ramadan, but he says that since I am obligated, it is not permissible for me to break my fast.
The Shaykh : I am new to this.
The questioner : So it is not permissible for me to break my fast? Is it permissible for me to break my fast?
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah, this doctor and this patient, I do not know. The report for the surgery says the eleventh month, is that what you have? Why was it not the tenth? There is no hunting in the tenth, or is he saying that what prevented him was that the patient is obligated and must fast, not that there was no appointment? If it were just the appointment, we would say there is no harm. In any case, the doctor made a mistake. To whom do we refer for rulings in Islamic law, my brothers? To whom? To the scholars of the Shari'ah. If a person has something in his stomach, does he go to a scholar of the Shari'ah and say, "So-and-so, I have something in my stomach, what is the ruling?" No, he cannot. Where does he go? He goes to the doctor. The doctor has no knowledge of the Shari'ah. Most doctors do not know about the Shari'ah, and although, praise be to Allah, there are some among the doctors who are good and have knowledge of the Shari'ah that many students of knowledge do not have, I say that there is no harm for this patient who needs surgery to break his fast, because he falls under the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:185] I wish he would go back to the doctor now, especially if the surgery requires prompt action. I wish he would go back to the doctor now and say that it is permissible for him to break his fast. And if the doctor performs the surgery in Ramadan, he is not sinful; rather, he is doing a favor to his brother if he knows that delaying the surgery will increase his illness. Yes.
The Shaykh : I am new to this.
The questioner : So it is not permissible for me to break my fast? Is it permissible for me to break my fast?
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah, this doctor and this patient, I do not know. The report for the surgery says the eleventh month, is that what you have? Why was it not the tenth? There is no hunting in the tenth, or is he saying that what prevented him was that the patient is obligated and must fast, not that there was no appointment? If it were just the appointment, we would say there is no harm. In any case, the doctor made a mistake. To whom do we refer for rulings in Islamic law, my brothers? To whom? To the scholars of the Shari'ah. If a person has something in his stomach, does he go to a scholar of the Shari'ah and say, "So-and-so, I have something in my stomach, what is the ruling?" No, he cannot. Where does he go? He goes to the doctor. The doctor has no knowledge of the Shari'ah. Most doctors do not know about the Shari'ah, and although, praise be to Allah, there are some among the doctors who are good and have knowledge of the Shari'ah that many students of knowledge do not have, I say that there is no harm for this patient who needs surgery to break his fast, because he falls under the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days
وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[55 من 93] ما حكم إجراء العملية للصائم في رمضان؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.