A woman says: Due to harsh circumstances, and without my desire, I traveled from Iraq to a foreign country in the middle of the month of Ramadan.
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The questioner : Due to harsh circumstances, and without my desire, I traveled from Iraq to a foreign country in the middle of the month of Ramadan. I had been fasting in the first half of Ramadan in Iraq, and when I traveled, I left off fasting, prayer, and fasting together for fifteen days, which was the duration of my stay in that country. I used to say: These are people with impurity, and it is not permissible to use their items. Also, I did not know the direction of the qiblah, and I did not eat or drink from their food and drink. Shaykh Muhammad, I ask: Does my leaving off prayer and fasting for this period affect the obligatory Hajj that I had performed a few years ago? And is there a ruling I should perform so that Allah forgives my sins? Please issue a ruling for us, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Your leaving off prayer for this period and fasting does not affect the obligatory Hajj that you performed previously, because what invalidates a previous good deed is apostasy if a person dies upon it, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:217] As for sins, they do not invalidate previous good deeds, but they may surround them from another angle if these sins are numerous and the balance is weighed between them and the good deeds, and the scale of the bad deeds outweighs, then the person is punished for them. Based on this, it is obligatory for you now to repent to Allah the Mighty and Majestic from leaving off prayer, and to increase in good deeds. It is not obligatory for you to make up the prayers according to the stronger position. As for fasting, your leaving it off is permissible because you are a traveler, and a traveler is not required to perform fasting, as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:185] Your statement in explaining your leaving off prayer, that you do not know the qiblah and do not eat from their food and drink, your statement is not correct. That is, your refraining from performing prayer for this reason is not correct. It is obligatory for you to pray to the best of your ability and to do what is obligatory in your prayer to the extent you are able, as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:286] And His saying: [At-Taghabun 64:16] And the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih al-Bukhari 7288 So, if a person is in a place where he does not know the qiblah and has no one to inform him of it with reliable information, he prays after seeking the direction that he is most convinced is the qiblah, and he is not required to repeat the prayer afterwards.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, Shaykh Muhammad. A listener to the program from Irbid, Jordan, says in his message: The listener uses the symbol "A A A" for his name.
The Shaykh : Your leaving off prayer for this period and fasting does not affect the obligatory Hajj that you performed previously, because what invalidates a previous good deed is apostasy if a person dies upon it, as Allah the Exalted said:
And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.
وَمَنْ يَرْتَدِدْ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُوْلَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَand whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days
ومَنْ كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَAllah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
لا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَاSo fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْAnd if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can.
إذا أمرتكم بأمر فأتوا منه ما استطعتمThe questioner : May Allah reward you, Shaykh Muhammad. A listener to the program from Irbid, Jordan, says in his message: The listener uses the symbol "A A A" for his name.