The ruling on one whose intention wavers between breaking the fast or completing the fast for making up a missed day
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The questioner: What is the ruling on one whose intention wavers between breaking the fast or completing the fast for making up a missed day?The Shaykh: But he is fasting?The questioner: He abstained after the dawn.
The Shaykh: After the dawn, or before?The questioner: After Fajr.
The Shaykh: He did not intend it until after the dawn.
The questioner: Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh: The brother’s fast is not valid as long as he did not intend it until after the dawn.
The questioner: Can he convert it to a voluntary fast?The Shaykh: This is according to the opinion of those who say that a voluntary fast is not valid before performing the make-up fast; it is not valid to convert it to a voluntary fast. According to the second opinion, it is valid, but it is not counted among the six days; because the six days are only after making up Ramadan. As for one who fasted and intended the fast before the dawn and continued, and during the day he wavered whether to complete it or break it.
The questioner: This is in the make-up fast, O Shaykh?The Shaykh: Make-up or not make-up. In Ramadan, one cannot waver; because he must remain fasting. But in the make-up fast, this does not invalidate his fast according to the correct opinion; because his initial intention was decisive, and wavering does not negate what is decisive.And some of the scholars said: If he wavers during the day whether to complete it or not, his fast is not invalidated, and the correct view is that it is not invalidated. This is unlike the one who did not intend it until after the dawn; in that case, his make-up fast cannot be valid.
The Shaykh: After the dawn, or before?The questioner: After Fajr.
The Shaykh: He did not intend it until after the dawn.
The questioner: Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh: The brother’s fast is not valid as long as he did not intend it until after the dawn.
The questioner: Can he convert it to a voluntary fast?The Shaykh: This is according to the opinion of those who say that a voluntary fast is not valid before performing the make-up fast; it is not valid to convert it to a voluntary fast. According to the second opinion, it is valid, but it is not counted among the six days; because the six days are only after making up Ramadan. As for one who fasted and intended the fast before the dawn and continued, and during the day he wavered whether to complete it or break it.
The questioner: This is in the make-up fast, O Shaykh?The Shaykh: Make-up or not make-up. In Ramadan, one cannot waver; because he must remain fasting. But in the make-up fast, this does not invalidate his fast according to the correct opinion; because his initial intention was decisive, and wavering does not negate what is decisive.And some of the scholars said: If he wavers during the day whether to complete it or not, his fast is not invalidated, and the correct view is that it is not invalidated. This is unlike the one who did not intend it until after the dawn; in that case, his make-up fast cannot be valid.