A man of advanced age who undergoes blood dialysis, sitting for three hours a day, three days a week. Is fasting obligatory upon him, and what is the expiation for breaking his fast?
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The questioner : With a wet miswak, because he senses some taste in his saliva from the miswak, making it difficult for him to swallow this saliva, either due to its quantity or because he is in the mosque. What is the ruling in this case?
The Shaykh : The ruling in this case is that it is not permissible for him to swallow his saliva if it contains the taste of the miswak. Rather, he must clean the miswak first, or use it at night, and then use it during the day when it is free of taste. If he is unable to do so, he must spit out the saliva that contains the taste. If he is in the mosque, he should use tissues, and praise be to Allah, tissues are abundant today. He can keep tissues in his pocket and spit into them. If that is not feasible, or if he fears, as some say, that there is a lot of it, let him use the miswak during the day, because using the miswak is not obligatory.
The questioner : A questioner says: I did some of the things that break the fast, and I did not know that they broke the fast, and I did them on many days. I do not know the number of days now. What is the ruling?
The Shaykh : I direct the question to you. What is the ruling? Yes, he owes nothing. He does not have to make up the fasts, and he has not committed a sin, because he did not know that they broke the fast.
The questioner : He says: May the Shaykh be honored. A person from a neighboring country contacted me and wants to ask you about the ruling regarding a woman who used to menstruate during Ramadan, so she would break her fast and not make up the fasts after Ramadan. It has been thirty years since then. What is required of her?
The Shaykh : If this woman is in a place far from scholars and students of knowledge, like one who grows up in a remote desert and does not know about this ruling, then she does not have to make up the fasts. She does not have to make up the fasts, because she is excused. However, if she was negligent, meaning she was in a place with scholars, a city where such a ruling is not hidden from a negligent or careless person, then she must make up what she left. If she is unsure, she should take the certainty, which is the lesser amount. So if she is unsure whether she left making up the fasts in three years or two years, she takes two years. Three or four? She takes three, and so on.
The questioner : He says: A man of advanced age, over sixty years old, undergoes blood dialysis now and has kidney failure. He sits on the machine for about three and a half hours a day for three days a week. Is fasting obligatory upon him, and what is the expiation for breaking his fast? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Fasting is not obligatory upon him in this case, on the three days when he needs to use this treatment, because it mixes in his veins. It is possible that he does not have to make up the fasts even if he uses it, because this is not eating or drinking, nor is it in the meaning of eating and drinking. However, it requires asking the doctors: does blood dialysis take the blood out if we want to wash it, or is it put into the machine and then returned to the body, or what? It appears to me, though I do not know for sure, that the blood is taken out. So the consideration remains: is it in the meaning of cupping, because it is a lot of blood, or is it not in its meaning, because it returns to the body, and its strength returns, unlike cupping? For this reason, we say the safest course is for a person who breaks his fast due to illness to make it up.
The Shaykh : The ruling in this case is that it is not permissible for him to swallow his saliva if it contains the taste of the miswak. Rather, he must clean the miswak first, or use it at night, and then use it during the day when it is free of taste. If he is unable to do so, he must spit out the saliva that contains the taste. If he is in the mosque, he should use tissues, and praise be to Allah, tissues are abundant today. He can keep tissues in his pocket and spit into them. If that is not feasible, or if he fears, as some say, that there is a lot of it, let him use the miswak during the day, because using the miswak is not obligatory.
The questioner : A questioner says: I did some of the things that break the fast, and I did not know that they broke the fast, and I did them on many days. I do not know the number of days now. What is the ruling?
The Shaykh : I direct the question to you. What is the ruling? Yes, he owes nothing. He does not have to make up the fasts, and he has not committed a sin, because he did not know that they broke the fast.
The questioner : He says: May the Shaykh be honored. A person from a neighboring country contacted me and wants to ask you about the ruling regarding a woman who used to menstruate during Ramadan, so she would break her fast and not make up the fasts after Ramadan. It has been thirty years since then. What is required of her?
The Shaykh : If this woman is in a place far from scholars and students of knowledge, like one who grows up in a remote desert and does not know about this ruling, then she does not have to make up the fasts. She does not have to make up the fasts, because she is excused. However, if she was negligent, meaning she was in a place with scholars, a city where such a ruling is not hidden from a negligent or careless person, then she must make up what she left. If she is unsure, she should take the certainty, which is the lesser amount. So if she is unsure whether she left making up the fasts in three years or two years, she takes two years. Three or four? She takes three, and so on.
The questioner : He says: A man of advanced age, over sixty years old, undergoes blood dialysis now and has kidney failure. He sits on the machine for about three and a half hours a day for three days a week. Is fasting obligatory upon him, and what is the expiation for breaking his fast? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Fasting is not obligatory upon him in this case, on the three days when he needs to use this treatment, because it mixes in his veins. It is possible that he does not have to make up the fasts even if he uses it, because this is not eating or drinking, nor is it in the meaning of eating and drinking. However, it requires asking the doctors: does blood dialysis take the blood out if we want to wash it, or is it put into the machine and then returned to the body, or what? It appears to me, though I do not know for sure, that the blood is taken out. So the consideration remains: is it in the meaning of cupping, because it is a lot of blood, or is it not in its meaning, because it returns to the body, and its strength returns, unlike cupping? For this reason, we say the safest course is for a person who breaks his fast due to illness to make it up.