Conditions for the Obligation of Fasting
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Fasting is not obligatory as a performance except with conditions: The first of them is: intellect.
The second: Reaching maturity.
The third: Islam.
The fourth: Ability.
The fifth: The Residency.
The sixth: Being free from menstruation and post-natal bleeding, in the case of women.
-The first: Intellect and its opposite, which is the loss of intellect,whether by madness, senility, meaning: whether due to old age or an incident that removed his intellect and consciousness. In such a case, nothing is required of him because of the loss of intellect. Accordingly, an elderly person who has reached the stage of incoherent speech owes neither fasting nor feeding; because he has no intellect. Likewise, one who is rendered unconscious by an incident or otherwise owes neither fasting nor feeding; because he is not of sound mind.
-The second: Reaching puberty and its opposite, which is childhood. One who has not reached puberty owes no fasting, but he should be ordered to fast if he is able to do so without harm. He should be ordered to fast, and his guardian should order him to do so, so that he becomes accustomed to it and it becomes easy for him after reaching puberty.
-The third: Islam. A non-Muslim is not obligated to fast, and even if he fasts, it is not valid from him, because the condition for acceptance, which is Islam, is absent.And this does not mean: We drop the punishment for his leaving it off, rather he will be punished for leaving it off on the Day of Resurrection, but in this world we do not demand it of him nor do we order him to make up what he missed after his Islam,And the evidence is the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Anfal: 38] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order anyone among those who embraced Islam to make up what they had broken, and because if we ordered the Muslim to make up what was before his Islam, that would be a deterrent from Islam,So the implication of the evidence and correct consideration is: that the disbeliever is not ordered to make up what he left when he embraces Islam, but if he dies upon his disbelief, he will be punished for leaving it off,Meaning: leaving what is obligatory upon the Muslim.
-The fourth: The ability to fast. One who is unable to fast is not obligated to fast, but if his inability is continuous and not expected to end, he must feed one poor person for every day. If his inability is expected to end, such as a person with a chronic illness, he waits until his inability ends and then makes up the fasts,And the evidence for that is the saying of Allah the Exalted: [al-Baqarah: 185] .
-The fifth: Residency, and its opposite is travel. The traveler is not obligated to fast, but he makes up the fasts when he returns from his journey,And the evidence for that is the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah: 185] If he travels during the day, meaning: he was resident and fasting, then he travels during the day, he may break his fast; because the cause that permits breaking the fast, which is travel, is present. Just as if the call to prayer is made while he is resident and then he travels after the call, he prays two rak'ahs and does not pray four, because the cause that permits shortening is present. And if he arrives in his home while breaking his fast, he is not obligated to abstain, rather he remains in a state of having broken his fast and makes up that day, just as he makes up the other days he broke.
-The sixth: Being free from menstruation and post-natal bleeding, in the case of the woman. If the woman is menstruating, she does not fast by consensus, and even if she fasts, it is not accepted by consensus. If she becomes pure during the day, she is not obligated to abstain, rather she remains in a state of having broken her fast because she will make up this day. And if she starts menstruating during the day, she breaks her fast and it is not permissible for her to continue fasting because the invalidator, which is menstruation, is present.
And know, O student: That the setting of conditions, pillars, and obligations by the scholars is a means of bringing knowledge closer and making it easier to obtain, because they, may Allah have mercy on them, collected these conditions from the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and organized them, so in that there was a facilitation of knowledge,And as for the saying of some of the later scholars: This is from the innovations.
The answer to this is that we say to them: And from the innovations is building schools, and from the innovations is printing books. Do you deny building schools and printing books?They will say: No.
We say: This is like that; this is a means to facilitate knowledge and bring it closer, and there is in the Sunnah what indicates this. Sometimes the Prophet (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) says: three such and such, five such and such, seven such and such,As he said: (Seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on a day when there is no shade except His) and He mentioned them,And he said: (Three whom Allah will not speak to on the Day of Resurrection, nor look at them, nor purify them, and for them is a painful punishment) Sometimes the Sunnah comes with a restriction.
The second: Reaching maturity.
The third: Islam.
The fourth: Ability.
The fifth: The Residency.
The sixth: Being free from menstruation and post-natal bleeding, in the case of women.
-The first: Intellect and its opposite, which is the loss of intellect,whether by madness, senility, meaning: whether due to old age or an incident that removed his intellect and consciousness. In such a case, nothing is required of him because of the loss of intellect. Accordingly, an elderly person who has reached the stage of incoherent speech owes neither fasting nor feeding; because he has no intellect. Likewise, one who is rendered unconscious by an incident or otherwise owes neither fasting nor feeding; because he is not of sound mind.
-The second: Reaching puberty and its opposite, which is childhood. One who has not reached puberty owes no fasting, but he should be ordered to fast if he is able to do so without harm. He should be ordered to fast, and his guardian should order him to do so, so that he becomes accustomed to it and it becomes easy for him after reaching puberty.
-The third: Islam. A non-Muslim is not obligated to fast, and even if he fasts, it is not valid from him, because the condition for acceptance, which is Islam, is absent.And this does not mean: We drop the punishment for his leaving it off, rather he will be punished for leaving it off on the Day of Resurrection, but in this world we do not demand it of him nor do we order him to make up what he missed after his Islam,And the evidence is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَنْتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُمْ مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ-The fourth: The ability to fast. One who is unable to fast is not obligated to fast, but if his inability is continuous and not expected to end, he must feed one poor person for every day. If his inability is expected to end, such as a person with a chronic illness, he waits until his inability ends and then makes up the fasts,And the evidence for that is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days
وَمَنْ كَانَ مَرِيضاً أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ-The fifth: Residency, and its opposite is travel. The traveler is not obligated to fast, but he makes up the fasts when he returns from his journey,And the evidence for that is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days
وَمَنْ كَانَ مَرِيضاً أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ-The sixth: Being free from menstruation and post-natal bleeding, in the case of the woman. If the woman is menstruating, she does not fast by consensus, and even if she fasts, it is not accepted by consensus. If she becomes pure during the day, she is not obligated to abstain, rather she remains in a state of having broken her fast because she will make up this day. And if she starts menstruating during the day, she breaks her fast and it is not permissible for her to continue fasting because the invalidator, which is menstruation, is present.
And know, O student: That the setting of conditions, pillars, and obligations by the scholars is a means of bringing knowledge closer and making it easier to obtain, because they, may Allah have mercy on them, collected these conditions from the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and organized them, so in that there was a facilitation of knowledge,And as for the saying of some of the later scholars: This is from the innovations.
The answer to this is that we say to them: And from the innovations is building schools, and from the innovations is printing books. Do you deny building schools and printing books?They will say: No.
We say: This is like that; this is a means to facilitate knowledge and bring it closer, and there is in the Sunnah what indicates this. Sometimes the Prophet (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) says: three such and such, five such and such, seven such and such,As he said: (Seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on a day when there is no shade except His) and He mentioned them,And he said: (Three whom Allah will not speak to on the Day of Resurrection, nor look at them, nor purify them, and for them is a painful punishment) Sometimes the Sunnah comes with a restriction.