Who has epilepsy and must take medication twice a day; is fasting obligatory for him?

The questioner : The brother asked about the topic of fasting; that I am a person who has had an illness for six years.

The Shaykh : May Allah grant you health.

The questioner : May Allah preserve you. It is epilepsy; I get seizures... So regarding fasting, I have to take two pills a day, and a doctor forbade me from fasting... I mean, something religiously, so I want a religious ruling that confirms whether I fast or do not fast?

The Shaykh : Okay, you are saying the doctor prescribed you two pills.

The questioner : Yes, daily at Dhuhr and Maghrib.

The Shaykh : Dhuhr and Maghrib.

The questioner : Dhuhr after lunch and after dinner.

The Shaykh : Okay, have you tried in your time to leave these two pills on a day when it is not necessary—may Allah forbid it—that the seizure comes to you on that same day?

The questioner : No, not on the same day, the next day.

The Shaykh : The next day?

The questioner : If it is not on the same day.

The Shaykh : Ah, if there are two possibilities, okay.

The questioner : It happened on the same day.

The Shaykh : Okay, have you tried taking one pill with the pre-dawn meal and one pill with the breaking of the fast?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : Yes, I advise you to take this step.

The questioner : One pill with the pre-dawn meal.

The Shaykh : Yes, and one pill in the evening, you fast. If this process succeeds, you have combined the command of the Lawgiver and the doctor's opinion. And if it does not succeed in this—and this is what we do not hope for you—yes; then it is permissible for you to take this thing because you are sick with a chronic illness, and we ask Allah to heal us and heal you.

Eid Abbasi : Does he give charity as expiation?

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner : Is it permissible...

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : Is it permissible for me to supplicate for guidance...