The conditions for the obligation of fasting.

The Shaykh : So who is it obligatory upon to fast? We say that it is obligatory upon the one who fulfills five or six conditions: that he be a Muslim, of age, sane, capable, resident, and free from impediments. How many? Six: that he be a Muslim, of age, sane, capable, resident, and free from impediments. This is the one upon whom it is obligatory to fast in its proper time; he must fast Ramadan in its time. The opposite of the Muslim is the disbeliever; it is not obligatory upon him to fast, but will he be punished for it in the Hereafter? Yes, he will be punished for it. The disbeliever, my brothers, is punished for every obligatory duty that Allah made obligatory and he left, even if he performed it, it would not be accepted from him. He is punished for leaving every obligatory duty. The disbeliever is punished for every lawful thing he consumed and benefited from, whereas the Muslim is not punished for the lawful. If the disbeliever eats, he will be punished on the Day of Resurrection; if he wears [clothes], he will be punished. He will be punished on the Day of Resurrection for every mouthful the disbeliever eats; he will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection. Every sip he drinks, he will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection. What is the evidence? The saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: And what is upon them? There is blame upon them. This is regarding food. And He said regarding clothing: other than the believers. And even if they have [benefit] in this world, it is not pure on the Day of Resurrection; they will be punished for it. So the opposite of Islam is what? Disbelief. We do not compel the disbeliever to fast, but we prevent him in the lands of Muslims from displaying eating and drinking. And this is a matter we must pay attention to. It is not permissible to open restaurants, even for disbelievers, and naturally, they are not open for Muslims during the days of Ramadan. And if any of you sees a restaurant owner opening it in Ramadan, it is obligatory upon him to inform the responsible authorities to prevent him. And no disbeliever can display eating or drinking during the day in Ramadan in the lands of Muslims; they must be prevented from doing so. Now, the third condition is being of age; the opposite is the child. It is not obligatory upon the child to fast, but the scholars said it is obligatory upon his guardian to order him to fast so that he becomes accustomed to it, following the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). The Companions used to make the children fast until the boy would cry out, not eating or drinking, and they would give him a toy made of wool. They would make a toy for him out of wool. What is wool? It is wool, and also cotton and the like. They would give him a toy to amuse himself with until the sun sets. If it is a small girl, take your daughter and play with her so she is amused until sunset. The people of knowledge said, "We follow our righteous predecessors; we order our children to fast and amuse them and play with them until the sun sets." Sane; the opposite is the one who has no mind, such as the insane, the delirious, the imbecile, and the like. These people have no obligation of fasting or feeding [the poor]. Capable; the opposite is the incapable. So the one incapable of fasting, you have heard but the scholars, through investigation, say that incapacity is of two types. The first type is continuous incapacity, such as the incapacity of old age and cancer diseases and the like; there is no hope for its removal. Can an old man possibly return to youth? No, absolutely not. The poet says: "Would that youth would return one day *** So I could tell it what the graying has done" The graying has become difficult for him. So the one incapable due to old age, his obligation is feeding [the poor], and the one incapable of fasting due to an illness for which there is no hope of recovery, his obligation is feeding [the poor]. He feeds one poor person for every day. Do you know what the Companions used to do? When Anas ibn Malik grew old and could not fast, he would, on the last day of Ramadan, prepare food, gather thirty poor people, and feed them dinner, and the matter would be concluded. As for the second type of incapacity, it is temporary incapacity for which there is hope of removal, and this is what is mentioned in the verse. And what is upon him? . And resident; the opposite is the traveler. So the traveler is not obligated to fast while traveling. He may eat and drink and have intercourse with his wife if she is with him, and there is no blame on him. He makes up the fast when he returns to his homeland, and he has a wide margin for making it up, from Ramadan to Ramadan. How many months? Eleven months. It is permitted for him. Fast in Shawwal, fast in Dhul Qa'dah, fast in Dhul Hijjah, but do not fast on the day of Eid or the days of Tashreeq. Fast in Muharram, in Safar, in Rabi' al-Awwal, in Rabi' al-Thani, in Jumada al-Ula, in Jumada al-Akhirah, in Rajab, but do not delay it until the second Ramadan. Now, if the traveler is going for 'Umrah in Ramadan, does he break his fast? In Makkah, in the Mother of Cities, in the best of places, in the last ten days, does he break his fast? He breaks his fast, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the role model, and who (peace and blessings be upon him) is undoubtedly the most eager of people for good, conquered Makkah in Ramadan, on the twentieth of Ramadan or the eighteenth, and remained in the last ten days in Makkah and did not fast. It is established from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) in Sahih al-Bukhari that he did not fast. He did not say, "By Allah, it is a noble time and a noble place, so I am sorry if I do not fast." Rather, he took the ease from Allah. And I have seen people performing 'Umrah in the last ten days enter the Sacred Mosque and circumambulate while on their last breath from hardship, and walk between al-Safa and al-Marwah while on their last breath from hardship. I say to the man, "Break your fast." He says, "I am a 'hasafi." Do you know what 'hasafi means to people? He is sorry; he says, "I cannot break my fast in the last ten days in Makkah. I bear the reward according to the hardship." This is wrong; this is a mistaken understanding. We say, if it is more active for you to break your fast, then break it, for you are commanded to break it. In the Battle of the Conquest, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) traveled from Madinah in Ramadan. While traveling, he used to say to them, "Break your fast," but he did not command them with determination. When he approached Makkah, listen to what the Prophet whom Allah gave wisdom said: He compelled them to break their fast. At first it was a dispensation, then it became the default ruling, because it made them stronger against the enemy. So likewise in 'Umrah, if it makes you stronger, break your fast. You came for 'Umrah, so perform the 'Umrah as it should be. But if we asked a questioner and he said, "Is it better that I hasten to perform 'Umrah during the day and break my fast, or that I delay it to the night and remain fasting?" The first or the second? You understand the question: he is asking whether it is better to perform 'Umrah during the day from the time of arrival, or to continue fasting and make the performance of 'Umrah at night? The first is better, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he arrived in Makkah as a pilgrim, did not delay; he would even dismount his mount at the mosque and enter and circumambulate before going to his lodging. So this is better. Now, we said resident, and that he be free from impediments. This is specific to women, which is that she not be menstruating or in post-natal bleeding. If she is menstruating or in post-natal bleeding, it is not obligatory upon her to fast, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the menstruating woman: The menstruating woman does not fast. And if she fasted, would it suffice her? No. The people of knowledge said: "It is forbidden for her to fast by the consensus of the scholars, and her fasting is not valid by the consensus of the scholars, and she must make up the fast by the consensus of the scholars". Three consensus rulings. The first consensus: it is forbidden. The second: if she fasted, it is not valid by consensus. The third: she must make it up by consensus. These are the conditions for the obligation of fasting.
Pay attention, my brother, the conditions. If the conditions, before the mu'adhdhin starts the adhan, how many are there? Count them for us. Get up, 'Ali. Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Before that, the conditions for the obligation of fasting. Now, Muslim, yes, yes, yes. One remaining: free from impediments. Now, after the adhan, we will complete it, if Allah wills, if it is facilitated. And the questions, if you permit, we will make them after the prayer; it will be better for that reason.
The conditions for the obligation of fasting in the month of Ramadan are six, and you have understood what is excluded by these conditions.