The ruling on one who is unable to fast Ramadan due to a chronic illness
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Question:
The questioner is from Dammam, Egyptian, and resides there (M. A. M). He says in this question, which I understood to mean: that his wife has suffered from epilepsy since childhood, which obligates her to follow a difficult treatment program that makes fasting during the blessed month of Ramadan difficult. However, in the past few years, she insisted on fasting, and by the grace of Allah, she was able to fast most of the days of the noble month despite the fatigue and heart attacks she suffered as a result of not taking her medication during the day in the blessed month of Ramadan. Knowing that after the end of the noble month, she is unable to make up the days she missed during the blessed month of Ramadan, please advise us, may Allah reward you:
Is it permissible for her to fast the month of Ramadan while in this condition? And what is obligatory for her regarding not having fasted for many previous years, as well as regarding the days she owes from Ramadan in the last three years? May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.
Answer:
She must fast if she is able; she knows her own condition best. If she is able, she must fast and make up the days she missed due to menstruation. If she is unable due to the illness that has afflicted her, she must feed one poor person for each day, if her illness is continuous with her and there is no remedy, meaning: she has consulted the doctors and they found no remedy. In that case, she feeds one poor person for each day. But if she is able to fast, even if only part of the fast, and then make up the rest, she fasts and makes up what she missed. This is what is obligatory for her; because Allah says: [Al-Taghabun: 16], and He the Exalted says: [Al-Baqarah: 184].
And Allah the Glorious and Exalted has prescribed fasting for us. He the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah: 183]. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that fasting Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. So if she is able, she must fast. If she breaks the fast for some days, she makes them up. And if the illness becomes severe for her and she is unable to fast, she breaks the fast. In any case, she must consider her condition: she fasts when she is able, and breaks the fast when it becomes difficult for her, and then she makes it up.
If she is never able, and it becomes a distinct hardship for her, she feeds one poor person for each day if her recovery is not expected. She presents herself to the specialist doctors; if her recovery from this illness is not expected, then praise be to Allah, she feeds one poor person for each day. She gathers fifteen sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of food for the month and gives it to some of the poor. Fifteen sa' means forty-five kilograms; for each day: one and a half kilograms. She gives it to some of the poor. This is what is obligatory for her if she is unable to fast, according to the testimony of the specialist doctors, because of her illness. We ask Allah for health for us and for her.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
The questioner is from Dammam, Egyptian, and resides there (M. A. M). He says in this question, which I understood to mean: that his wife has suffered from epilepsy since childhood, which obligates her to follow a difficult treatment program that makes fasting during the blessed month of Ramadan difficult. However, in the past few years, she insisted on fasting, and by the grace of Allah, she was able to fast most of the days of the noble month despite the fatigue and heart attacks she suffered as a result of not taking her medication during the day in the blessed month of Ramadan. Knowing that after the end of the noble month, she is unable to make up the days she missed during the blessed month of Ramadan, please advise us, may Allah reward you:
Is it permissible for her to fast the month of Ramadan while in this condition? And what is obligatory for her regarding not having fasted for many previous years, as well as regarding the days she owes from Ramadan in the last three years? May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.
Answer:
She must fast if she is able; she knows her own condition best. If she is able, she must fast and make up the days she missed due to menstruation. If she is unable due to the illness that has afflicted her, she must feed one poor person for each day, if her illness is continuous with her and there is no remedy, meaning: she has consulted the doctors and they found no remedy. In that case, she feeds one poor person for each day. But if she is able to fast, even if only part of the fast, and then make up the rest, she fasts and makes up what she missed. This is what is obligatory for her; because Allah says:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْSo whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]
فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَAnd Allah the Glorious and Exalted has prescribed fasting for us. He the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَIf she is never able, and it becomes a distinct hardship for her, she feeds one poor person for each day if her recovery is not expected. She presents herself to the specialist doctors; if her recovery from this illness is not expected, then praise be to Allah, she feeds one poor person for each day. She gathers fifteen sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of food for the month and gives it to some of the poor. Fifteen sa' means forty-five kilograms; for each day: one and a half kilograms. She gives it to some of the poor. This is what is obligatory for her if she is unable to fast, according to the testimony of the specialist doctors, because of her illness. We ask Allah for health for us and for her.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.