A word on fasting and standing in night prayer.

The Shaykh : And since we are welcoming the month of Ramadan, we prefer to speak now about what concerns fasting and standing in night prayer. As for fasting in Ramadan, it is not hidden from any of us that it is one of the pillars of Islam upon which this religion was built, the one with which Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was sent. It is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: And Jibril asked him about Islam, so he answered him with this, saying: So the rank of fasting in Ramadan in the Islamic religion is a high rank because it is one of its pillars, and fasting it is obligatory by the consensus of the Muslims, which is based on the indication of the Book and the Sunnah. For this reason, the scholars said: Whoever denies its obligation is an apostate disbeliever, because this is something known by necessity from the religion of Islam, unless he is a new convert to Islam and knows nothing about Islam. In that case, he is informed. If he persists in denying the obligation after being informed, he is judged to be an apostate and killed, unless he repents and acknowledges the obligation. As for the one who leaves it out of negligence without denying its obligation, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed: Does he become a disbeliever and an apostate because he left a pillar of Islam? Some of them said so, and this is a narration from Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him): That the one who leaves fasting out of laziness and negligence is a disbeliever like the one who leaves prayer. But the majority of the scholars are of the view that he does not become a disbeliever, because Abdullah ibn Shaqiq (may Allah have mercy on him), one of the great Tabi'un, said: So the correct view is that no one becomes a disbeliever for leaving a pillar of Islam, except in the case of the two testimonies and prayer only.
The month of Ramadan was made obligatory in the second year of the Hijrah. At first, when it was made obligatory, people were given the choice between fasting or paying a ransom. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: This is clear in the choice. Then fasting became specific, and feeding became for the one who cannot fast on a permanent basis. And this is the custom of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, in the legislations that are difficult for people: He makes them gradual. Just as He made the prohibition of intoxicants gradual. And likewise, people at first, if a person slept or ate dinner, it was obligatory for him to remain abstaining until he fasted from the next day. Then this was abrogated, and praise be to Allah.
But fasting in Ramadan has conditions: The first condition is reaching puberty, the second is intellect, the third is Islam, the fourth is ability, the fifth is residence, and the sixth is being free from preventers. Six conditions are counted for us.
The student: Islam.

The Shaykh : First: Reaching puberty.
The student: Reaching puberty and Islam.

The Shaykh : Reaching puberty and intellect.

The questioner : Islam and...

The Shaykh : No, no, ability.
The student: Ability.

The Shaykh : And residence.
The student: And being free from preventers.

The Shaykh : And being free from preventers. Six: reaching puberty, intellect, Islam, ability, residence, being free from preventers. As for reaching puberty: its opposite is childhood. The child is not obligated to fast and is not compelled to it, but he is commanded to do so if he is able. If he does it, the reward is for him, and if he does not do it, he owes nothing. The insane person is not commanded to do it, and even if he fasts, it is not accepted from him and is not valid from him, because he is insane and has no intention. Islam, and its opposite is disbelief. The disbeliever is not compelled to Islam, and if he becomes a Muslim, he is not compelled to make up what he missed. As for the fact that we do not compel him to Islam, it is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to send the callers to Islam and say: This indicates that a person is not commanded with the legislations of Islam except after the two testimonies, after he becomes a Muslim. And as for the fact that the disbeliever does not make up what he missed, it is because Allah, the Exalted, said: And our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not command anyone who becomes a Muslim to make up what he missed of prayer, fasting, or zakah.
The fourth: Ability to fast. So whoever is not able, his inability is either permanent or expected to end. If his inability is permanent, he pays a ransom for every day by feeding a poor person, meaning he feeds a poor person for every day, like the old person or the sick person with a disease from which recovery is not expected. He feeds a poor person for every day. The method of feeding is either to give each person a mudd of rice with meat to accompany it, or to gather them all together, or ten by ten, to feed them breakfast or dinner, as Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) used to do when he grew old. As for the one who expects his inability to end, he waits until his inability ends, then he makes it up, due to the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
The fifth: Residence, and its opposite is travel. The traveler is not obligated to fast; he has the option to break his fast, even if he does not find hardship, but he must make it up, due to the saying of Allah, the Exalted: And it is better for him to fast, unless there is some hardship in it. If there is hardship, it is better to break the fast. The fourth, the fifth.
The sixth: Being free from preventers. We mean by this menstruation and post-natal bleeding. Meaning, the menstruating woman is not obligated to fast, nor is the woman with post-natal bleeding. In fact, if they fasted, it would be forbidden for them and their fast would be defective, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the menstruating woman, confirming her ruling:
So these are the conditions for the obligation of performing fasting. As for what one fasts from, because fasting is abstention, from what does one abstain? One abstains from the things that break the fast, which are established as breaking the fast. Among what is established as breaking the fast is eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse. These three are mentioned in the Noble Book. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: Sexual intercourse is in His saying: Eating is: And drinking is: These are three. The fourth: What is in the meaning of eating and drinking. What is in the meaning of eating and drinking, like nourishing injections. And the meaning of our saying "nourishing" is that one is satisfied with them instead of eating and drinking. As for injections for treatment, or for strengthening, or for other diseases, but they do not replace eating and drinking, these do not break the fast, whether the person takes them in the muscles, in the vein, or in any place. How many are these? Four.
The fifth: Emission. Emission of semen with desire by one's action, meaning that a person emits semen with desire by his action, whether by touching, kissing, or otherwise. This is not a point of agreement among the scholars. Some scholars say: It does not break the fast, because there is no explicit evidence for it, and the original state is the validity of the fast and its not being invalidated except by explicit evidence. But it can be said: The evidence is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith that he narrates from Allah, the Exalted, that Allah said regarding the fasting person: So semen is desire. For this reason, the pleasure of sexual intercourse is not called anything but emission. And it indicates this that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meaning, sexual intercourse with his wife is a charity. And this is the view of the majority of the scholars that it breaks the fast by emission with desire if it is by one's action. And there is no doubt that this is the most cautious, and it is not permissible for a person who is fasting an obligatory fast to do that, meaning: to emit with desire by his action. And if he does it, let him make it up. And our saying "emission of semen with desire" is to avoid the case where a person is afflicted with a disease and semen starts to come out of him, or he falls from a wall and with the fall semen comes out. This does not break the fast. And our saying "by his action" is to avoid the case where a person thinks about sexual intercourse and emits, then he does not break the fast by that, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): But if he moved his penis while thinking and emitted by this movement, then what is it? Does it break the fast or not? It breaks the fast, because this is by his action, so it is actually self-stimulation. These are five.
The sixth: The exit of blood by cupping. The exit of blood by cupping means if a person is cupped and blood comes out of him, he breaks his fast and his fast becomes defective, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): And Imam Ahmad authenticated this hadith, and he is one of the imams of hadith and imams of jurisprudence, indeed he is the Imam of the people of the Sunnah (may Allah have mercy on him). So because of his scrupulousness and his knowledge of hadith and his jurisprudence, a person is reassured by this view, meaning: that the exit of blood by cupping invalidates the fast. But if someone says: The invalidation of the fast of the one who is cupped is apparent, because he expelled the blood that causes the weakness of the body and its dissolution and its need for eating and drinking. But what about the cupper? The answer is: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) only said: To a known, habitual cupper who used to cup him at that time. And they used to cup with jars that had small tubes, which the cupper would suck until the blood reached this tube, and he would know that he had started to collect the blood.
The Shaykh of Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Because when the blood is drawn, some of it may reach his stomach without him realizing it." For this reason, he said: So, if someone gets cupped and blood appears from the one who is cupped? Yes, is it only the cupper or only the one being cupped? Both break the fast, the cupper and the one being cupped. Now, based on that, if the fast is obligatory, such as Ramadan, making up a missed fast, expiation, or fidyah, or similar, is it permissible for him to get cupped or not?
The answer is: No, it is not permissible for him to get cupped, because invalidating an obligatory act is forbidden, unless he is compelled to do so. If he is compelled to do so, and he experiences fainting due to the agitation of his blood, and he needs to get cupped, then here we say: Get cupped and break your fast, eat, and drink.
The seventh: vomiting, if one does it intentionally, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): I think he said: So, if a person induces vomiting and the food in his stomach comes out, he breaks his fast, based on this hadith, which is an authentic hadith. But someone might say: This is the opposite of eating and drinking. Eating and drinking bring food and drink into the stomach, and this is what? It takes food and drink out of the stomach. So how does it break the fast? Our answer to this is from two angles. The first angle: This is the ruling of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) rules on something, it is like the ruling of Allah, based on His saying: And if this is the ruling of Allah and His Messenger, the believer’s affair is to say: We hear and we obey. Allah the Exalted said: And Allah the Exalted said: This is the answer to saying: This is the ruling of Allah. Yes, to say: This is the ruling of the Messenger of Allah, and the ruling of the Messenger of Allah is like the ruling of Allah, and it is not permissible for us to deviate from it.
The second answer is that it is said: The exit of food from the stomach causes weakness and dissolution of the body, so it is like the exit of blood through cupping. And on this basis, breaking the fast through cupping supports breaking the fast through vomiting; they support each other. So we say to the one whose fast is obligatory: Do not vomit; it is forbidden for you. If you are compelled to do so, then vomit and break your fast, eat, and drink, in order to restore the strength and vitality of your body. These are seven things.
The eighth: the exit of menstrual blood. If menstrual blood exits, even one minute before sunset, the fast is invalid, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And the scholars agreed that the fast of a menstruating woman is not valid. But if menstrual blood exits after sunset, even by one minute, the fast is valid, because rulings are tied to the exit of the blood, not to the sensation of it without the exit. The eighth.
The student: The ninth.

The Shaykh : The ninth: the exit of post-natal bleeding. If post-natal bleeding exits from a woman before sunset, even by one minute, her fast is invalid; the fast is invalid. And if it is after sunset, even by one minute, her fast is valid. These are the things that break the fast. It is now clear that among the things that break the fast, some are voluntary and some are not voluntary. What is voluntary? The first seven that we mentioned; this is voluntary. And what is not voluntary is menstruation and post-natal bleeding.
The voluntary things that break the fast do not invalidate the fast except with conditions: The first condition is knowledge, the second is remembrance, the third is intention, and the fourth is choice. As for knowledge, its opposite is ignorance. If a person consumes one of these things that break the fast while ignorant, his fast is valid. If he eats thinking that the dawn has not appeared, and then it turns out that it has appeared, the fast is valid. If the sky is cloudy and he thinks the sun has set, so he eats, and then the sun appears, the fast is valid. The evidence for this is: