What is the ruling on one who eats or drinks while fasting, forgetting that he is fasting?

The questioner : There are people who say that the one who eats during voluntary fasts outside of Ramadan while forgetting... the woman makes up... meaning, when a woman breaks her fast in Ramadan, how many days?

The Shaykh : I mean she makes them up, meaning she performs the make-up fasts.

The questioner : The counted days that she broke her fast on in Ramadan?

The Shaykh : Are you talking about voluntary fasts?

The questioner : Other than voluntary fasts, she makes them up. The woman makes up the counted days that she broke her fast on in Ramadan. So, she ate while forgetting, and they said: does she break her fast?

The Shaykh : There is no difference between fasting in Ramadan, making up fasts from Ramadan, or fasting voluntary fasts. There is no difference here between a person, whether male or female, fasting in Ramadan, making up what he missed from Ramadan, or fasting voluntary fasts. If he eats or drinks while forgetting, then Allah has fed him and given him drink, and he owes no make-up. Do you understand that there is no difference?

The questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace...

The questioner : I heard a tape of yours in which you said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) established the original medical stone known today, and you cited a hadith?

The Shaykh : Yes, the hadith of the plague.

The questioner : Did you cite the hadith of Ibn Abbas?

The Shaykh : The hadith of the plague. What is your question?

The questioner : My question, O Shaykh, is: is the command not to enter and not to leave the land for what purpose?

The Shaykh : Or what? For the sake of preserving the safety of the individual and the safety of the community from the contagion of the plague. And perhaps you are among the people who do not believe in contagion?

The questioner : No, no, I believe in contagion.

The Shaykh : Good, then what is your problem with the issue?

The questioner : That the hadith is conditional, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Conditional on what?

The questioner : Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf said: He said: "And if you hear of it in a land, do not enter it, and if it occurs in a land and you are in it, do not leave fleeing from it." Meaning that the condition is attached to fleeing, i.e., the one who leaves without fleeing from the plague is not in violation of this hadith.

The Shaykh : But, may Allah reward you, first you said Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf says, and this is not from his saying, but rather it is from the saying of his Prophet. This is first.
And second, "fleeing from it," why does he flee from it? Because he fears being afflicted. So, if he leaves and is afflicted, and he moves to the other town, what does he do, or what is the result of his fleeing?

The questioner : He carries the disease with him.

The Shaykh : And is this permissible? And the Messenger says:

The Shaykh : Okay, clear...

The questioner : Is that clear?

The Shaykh : Did you finish the hadith?

The questioner : The hadith ended, and then Umar said: Praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh : No, the hadith, my brother, has another sentence, which may be at the beginning in some narrations and may be at the end.

The questioner : Yes, in another narration it says, from Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that she informed him that she asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about the plague, so the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told her: .

The Shaykh : Yes, this is an authentic hadith, but what did you mean? Do you not know that there is another sentence that corresponds to the sentence you recited and made us hear, which is ? Do you not remember this?

The questioner : Yes, it is present in the wording of the hadith.

The Shaykh : And this is what I am telling you, so why do you not read it?

The questioner : . ؟

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : This is so that you do not be afflicted with the disease.

The Shaykh : So, it is not permissible to enter the afflicted land for fear that the entrant will be afflicted, and it is not permissible for one who is in the afflicted land to leave for fear that he will carry the disease to a land that does not have the disease.

The questioner : Okay, O Shaykh, now, what about those who say: is the condition reliance on Allah? Is this saying correct?

The Shaykh : This is correct, but it does not contradict what we said, may Allah reward you. It does not contradict it, because when the resident in the land with the plague sees people falling before him, individuals and groups, without doubt, he cannot bear this scene which threatens him with imminent death, except for one who is truly reliant on Allah. So, this is what contradicts reliance, and it does not also contradict that the prohibition of leaving the land of the plague is for a wisdom, a medical wisdom, as the addition we drew your attention to indicated.

The questioner : Okay, O Shaykh, now, if he is not afflicted in a land where the plague has spread?

The Shaykh : How does he know that he is not afflicted?

The questioner : Let us suppose that he is afflicted.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide you, you are talking about the one who is not afflicted.

The questioner : Yes, O Shaykh, but I mean taking treatment, regardless of whether he is afflicted or not? But the point is, in a land where the plague has spread, does this contradict reliance?

The Shaykh : What contradicts or does not? Taking medicine?

The questioner : I did not hear you.

The Shaykh : I am asking you. You first said, if we suppose he is not afflicted with the disease, and then when I drew your attention by saying "and how do we know he is not afflicted," you changed from that statement to saying that he is afflicted. So, you now want to say about this afflicted person, does he take medicine or not?

The questioner : I want to say, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : O Shaykh, may Allah guide you, do not waste my time. I am asking you, say yes or no?

The questioner : Yes, and what do you want to elaborate on? You want to say: is this afflicted person permitted to seek treatment and take medicine or not? Do you want this?

The questioner : I want this.

The Shaykh : So why do you want to say something other than saying yes, I want this? This does not contradict reliance, because reliance does not contradict taking means. So, if it is more likely that taking treatment to prevent the harm of the plague will lead to his cure, this does not contradict reliance on Allah at all, just as it does not contradict taking any treatment for any disease or any ailment.

The questioner : We are studying with one of the shaykhs here, and today this issue became difficult for us. And the truth is, I researched it, so I wanted to seek your opinion, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good, and I have informed you of my opinion. If you still have a problem, raise it, and do not worry. But do not take and give in words that have no benefit. If you ask me a question, say yes or no. As for saying "I want such and such," and you have spared me from saying such and such with a question "do you want this or not?" You say: yes, you say: no. Is there anything left with you?

The questioner : There is one problem left.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : Now, today we were reading this hadith, and our shaykh told us that the condition is the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not to leave... reliance on Allah the Exalted and Majestic. So, if a person leaves his land, not fleeing from it, from the land where the plague has spread, not fleeing from it, then the prohibition does not apply to him. So, a problem arose for us: if, according to his saying that the condition is reliance, if he swallowed something, took medicine to ward off the plague, is he considered fleeing or not? I want you to answer me on this with this understanding?

The Shaykh : And I have done so, and this is what I advised you not to talk too much about. I have done so and answered that taking treatment which is more likely to contain a cure does not contradict reliance here, nor in any disease a Muslim is afflicted with, he takes medicine for it. I have answered, so what do you want from me?

The questioner : I want you to analyze the issue of fleeing, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you, I have explained to you that fleeing, its expression in the hadith, means it contradicts reliance. It does not contradict that there is another condition, i.e., it does not contradict that the wise Lawgiver commanded the one who is in the land afflicted with the plague to rely on Allah. This does not negate that this command to rely on Allah is something else indicated by another proof, which is the complete hadith that we have been discussing recently.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Did the answer become clear to you or not?

The questioner : It became clear, and may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And you too, my brother.

The questioner : The plague, O Shaykh, is a general epidemic or a specific epidemic?

The Shaykh : It is not possible for it to be a general epidemic, as is mentioned in some reports from the exegetes that the flood of Noah (peace be upon him) was general. It is not possible for the plague to be like that, otherwise no living creature would have remained on the face of the earth. Rather, it may sometimes spread and take over one state, another, and another, but by the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His control in directing the plague as He wills, there will remain other lands clean of it. This is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has not yet permitted the destruction of the inhabitants of the earth. That will occur, as you know, at the end of time when the gentle wind is sent and it takes the souls of the believers. Then, no one will remain on the earth except the worst of creation, and upon them the Hour will be established. Thus, there is no contradiction between the expression mentioned in the hadith and the fact that this expression includes a medical aspect, as indicated by the command of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) or his prohibition against entering the land where the plague is. Why is it not said here as well, "Let him enter and rely on Allah," as came in the hadith of al-Tirmidhi that a leper, meaning a man afflicted with leprosy, sat eating with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said to him: . If this had been authentic, it would have been permissible for us to say that it is permissible for the healthy person to mix with the patient afflicted with a contagious disease by the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). One might oppose it by relying on Allah in this hadith if it were authentic. But the hadith is first weak, and then, on its surface, it contradicts what is in the hadith of Muslim in his Sahih, in which a man afflicted with leprosy came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pledge allegiance to him in Islam, and he said to him: , and he did not take his pledge by hand as is the Sunnah, and it has become clear to you, if Allah wills.

The questioner : And speaking of the plague, does it include cholera, AIDS, and the diseases that spread, or is it specific?

The Shaykh : It is a specific description.

The questioner : Do you mean that it does not include these plagues that I mentioned recently?

The Shaykh : No, it is as it came in the hadith: .

The questioner : Is this description established in the hadith, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Yes, it came in a hadith, of course, other than this hadith that came in the two Sahihs. This came authentically in other than one of the books of the Sunnah. As for me, I do not recall it at the moment, and it is easy for someone like you to review, for example, some of the comprehensive books of the Sunnah, such as "Mishkat al-Masabih" and the like.

The questioner: May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And you too, my brother.