When you cannot fast
In short
- Allah wants ease for you. A traveler, a sick person, a pregnant or breastfeeding woman worried about harm, and a woman on her period may all leave the fast.
- Most of them make up the days later, one for one. You have until the next Ramadan, and the days do not have to be in a row.
- Someone who can never fast, because of old age or an illness that will not get better, pays fidya instead: food for one poor person for each day.
- Kaffarah, the heavy penalty, is only for breaking a Ramadan fast on purpose. Missing days for a real reason never needs it.
- Never fast against good medical advice. Taking Allah's ease is part of obeying Him.
The ease Allah gave
Fasting Ramadan is fard (required) for every adult Muslim with a sound mind who is able to fast. In the same verses that make it a duty, Allah says who may leave it: whoever of you is sick or on a journey, then the same number of other days1. And: Allah wants ease for you, and He does not want hardship for you2.
- The ease is part of the deen, not a weak way out. Nabi ﷺ said: the religion is easy3.
- You do not lose out. When a person is ill or traveling, Allah writes for them the reward of what they used to do when healthy and at home4.
A missed day is settled in one of three ways:
| Word | What it means | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Qada (making up) | Fast one day later for each day missed | Travelers, the sick who get better, women after a period or birth, pregnant and breastfeeding women |
| Fidya (food instead) | Feed one poor person for each day missed | The very old, and people whose illness will not get better |
| Kaffarah (a penalty) | Fast two months in a row, or feed sixty poor people | Breaking a Ramadan fast on purpose by intercourse (and more, in some schools) |
Sources for this section
- 1(Quran 2:184)
- 2(Quran 2:185)
- 3(Bukhari 39)
- 4(Bukhari 2996)
Travel
Who counts as a traveler
- The same journey that lets you shorten salah: roughly 80 km (48 miles) or more, one way, however you travel. See Prayer when traveling.
- If you plan to stay in one place a long time, you fast there. Most schools say four days or more. Hanafis say fifteen days or more.
Fasting or not: both are allowed
Hamzah al-Aslami asked Nabi ﷺ about fasting while traveling. He said: fast if you wish, and do not fast if you wish5. Anas said: on journeys with Nabi ﷺ, the ones fasting did not blame the ones not fasting, and the ones not fasting did not blame the ones fasting6.
| Your situation | What is better |
|---|---|
| An easy journey | Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is: fasting is better, so you clear the day now. Hanbalis: not fasting is better, because it is Allah's ease. Both are fine. Nabi ﷺ said the ease is good to take, and there is no sin on the one who fasts7. |
| The fast is hard on you | Not fasting is better. Nabi ﷺ saw people shading a man on a journey because he was fasting. He said: it is not righteousness to fast on a journey8. |
| It could harm you, or you need your strength | Do not fast. Nabi ﷺ called people who kept fasting in that case disobedient9. |
On the road to Makkah, Nabi ﷺ once raised a cup of water so everyone could see him drink10.
The full story: the cup of water on the road to Makkah
In Ramadan of the year Makkah was opened, Nabi ﷺ set out from Madinah with a large army. He was fasting, and so were the people11.
Abu Sa'id said: Nabi ﷺ told them, you are getting close to your enemy, and breaking the fast will make you stronger. At first it was a choice. At the next stop he said: you meet the enemy in the morning, so break the fast. Then they all did12.
At Usfan, Nabi ﷺ asked for water. He raised it up high so the people could see, and drank. He did not fast again until he reached Makkah13. Later he heard some people had kept fasting anyway. He said: those are the disobedient ones14.
What this teaches us
- Nabi ﷺ took the ease in public, so no one would feel shy to take it.
- Choosing hardship is not more pious. When the ease is needed, taking it is obedience.
- A traveler can start the day fasting and break later if it becomes hard.
Leaving and arriving
- Do not eat before you leave your town. The ease starts once you have set off.
- Woke up at home fasting, then left in the day? Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is: finish that day's fast. Hanbalis: you may break it once you have left town.
- Arrived home in the day, not fasting? Hanafis and Hanbalis: stop eating for the rest of the day, out of respect for Ramadan. Malikis and Shafi'is: you do not have to, but do not eat in front of people. Either way, make the day up.
Sources for this section
- 5(Bukhari 1943)
- 6(Bukhari 1947)
- 7(Muslim 1121)
- 8(Bukhari 1946)
- 9(Muslim 1114)
- 10(Bukhari 1948)
- 11(Muslim 1114)
- 12(Muslim 1120)
- 13(Bukhari 1948)
- 14(Muslim 1114)
Illness
A sick person may leave the fast when fasting would make the illness worse, slow the healing, or cause real hardship15.
- A small illness, like a mild cold that fasting does not make worse, is not a reason.
- Ask a doctor you trust. If a good doctor says fasting will harm you, do not fast.
- Medicine you must take in the day means you do not fast that day. Ask your doctor if it can move to suhur (the meal before dawn) and iftar (the meal at sunset).
- Became very ill during a fast, or felt you might faint? Break it, and make the day up.
- Injections, inhalers and drips are covered in the chapter What breaks the fast.
Short-term illness: make up the days
If you expect to get better, make up each day once you are well16. If the illness carries on and you die before you could make them up, nothing is owed.
Long-term illness or old age: fidya
Some people will never be able to fast: the very old, or someone with a lifelong illness. In the fasting verses, Allah mentions a fidya: feeding a poor person17. Ibn Abbas explained it is for old men and old women who do not have the strength to fast: they feed one poor person for each day18.
- Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis: fidya is required. Malikis: it is recommended.
- Someone who has lost their mind, for example with advanced dementia, does not fast or pay fidya.
- Someone who cannot afford fidya owes nothing. Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear19.
Sources for this section
- 15(Quran 2:184)
- 16(Quran 2:185)
- 17(Quran 2:184)
- 18(Bukhari 4505)
- 19(Quran 2:286)
Fidya: how much and to whom
| School | For each day |
|---|---|
| Maliki and Shafi'i | One mudd (an old measure, about two handfuls, roughly half a kilo) of the local main food, like rice or wheat |
| Hanbali | One mudd of wheat, or two mudd of other food |
| Hanafi | Half a sa' of wheat (about 1.6 to 2 kg), or its value in money, or two full meals for one poor person |
- Food or money? Hanafis allow money. The others say food. Many masjids publish a fidya amount each Ramadan. You may follow yours.
- To whom: poor and needy Muslims. Many days can go to one person. Not to family you already support, like parents, children or spouse.
- When: day by day, or all together at the end of Ramadan. Hanafis also allow paying the whole month at the start.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Nabi ﷺ said: Allah has lifted fasting, and half of the prayer, from the traveler, and fasting from the pregnant and breastfeeding woman20.
She may leave the fast when she is worried about harm to herself or her baby: from her own experience, how her body feels, or a doctor's advice. If fasting is easy for her, she can fast.
| Her worry | What she does |
|---|---|
| For herself, or herself and the baby | All four schools: make up the days later. No fidya. |
| Only for the baby | Hanafis: make up only. Shafi'is and Hanbalis: make up and fidya for each day. Malikis: pregnant, make up only; breastfeeding, make up and fidya. |
- Ibn Abbas held that the ayah of fidya also covers pregnant and breastfeeding women21. A few scholars today take from this that fidya alone is enough. The four schools ask for the make up.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding for several Ramadans in a row? Make up the days when you are able. Delay for this reason is not a sin.
- Follow your local masjid or a scholar you trust on which view to take.
Sources for this section
- 20(Nasai 2315)
- 21(Abu Dawud 2317)
Periods and bleeding after birth
A woman on her period (hayd), or bleeding after birth (nifas), does not fast. A fast kept then does not count. She makes up the Ramadan days later.
- Nabi ﷺ said: when a woman has her period, is it not so that she does not pray and does not fast?22
- Aisha said: we were told to make up the fasts, and not the prayers23. This is no sin and no fault. It is Allah's ruling.
A woman named Mu'adhah once asked Aisha why it is the fasts and not the prayers24.
The full story: why fasts and not prayers?
Mu'adhah, from the generation after the Companions, asked Aisha: why does a woman make up the fasts she missed in her period, but not the prayers?25
Aisha asked: are you a Haruri? The Haruris were an extreme group of that time, known for being harsh. Mu'adhah said: no, I just want to know.
Aisha said: that used to happen to us. We were told to make up the fasts, and we were not told to make up the prayers26.
What this teaches us
- We follow what Nabi ﷺ taught, even before we know every reason.
- Allah's mercy is in the details. A week of prayers every month would be very hard to make up. A few fasts once a year is easy.
- It is good to ask. Aisha answered an honest question gladly.
When it starts or stops in the day
- Starts in the day, even minutes before Maghrib: that day does not count. Make it up. She may eat and drink, quietly.
- Stops before Fajr, even just before: she fasts that day, and can make ghusl after Fajr begins. Nabi ﷺ sometimes woke needing ghusl and still fasted27.
- Stops during the day: she makes that day up. Hanafis and Hanbalis say she also stops eating for the rest of the day. Malikis and Shafi'is say she does not have to.
- Bleeding that is not a period (istihadah), and light spotting, do not stop the fast.
For how long a period or nifas can last, see Periods and bleeding after birth.
Sources for this section
- 22(Bukhari 1951)
- 23(Muslim 335)
- 24(Muslim 335)
- 25(Muslim 335)
- 26(Muslim 335)
- 27(Bukhari 1926)
Making up missed days
- When: any time before the next Ramadan. Sooner is better. Aisha sometimes made hers up in Sha'ban, the month before Ramadan28.
- Not on the two Eid days. Most scholars add the three days after Eid al-Adha.
- Intention: make it during the night, before Fajr, for each make-up fast.
- In a row or apart: both are fine. Allah only said the same number of other days29. In a row is better if it is easy.
- Six days of Shawwal first? Nabi ﷺ said whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is like fasting the whole year30. Many scholars say make up first, then the six. Others allow the six first.
If the next Ramadan comes first
| Why you delayed | What you do |
|---|---|
| A real reason lasted all year (illness, pregnancy, breastfeeding) | All schools: make up the days when you can. Nothing extra. |
| No reason | Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis: make up and one fidya for each day. Shafi'is add another fidya for each extra year. Hanafis: make up only. All say repent for the delay. |
Missed days years ago and do not know how many? Make your best honest guess, leaning to the higher number, and start, one or two days a week. Nabi ﷺ said the deed Allah loves most is the one done regularly, even if it is small31.
Sources for this section
- 28(Bukhari 1950)
- 29(Quran 2:184)
- 30(Muslim 1164)
- 31(Bukhari 6464)
Kaffarah, briefly
Kaffarah is a heavy penalty for breaking a Ramadan fast on purpose, with no excuse. It is never for anyone with a reason in this chapter, and never for make-up fasts.
- Who: all four schools: intercourse in the day while fasting in Ramadan. Hanafis and Malikis add eating or drinking on purpose.
- What: first it was freeing a slave, which is not possible today. So: fast two months in a row. If you truly cannot, feed sixty poor people32. Malikis allow a free choice, and say feeding is best. The day itself is also made up.
A man once came to Nabi ﷺ saying I am ruined. Nabi ﷺ was gentle with him, and in the end gave him a basket of dates to give away33. The full rules are in the chapter What breaks the fast.
Sources for this section
- 32(Bukhari 1936)
- 33(Bukhari 1936)
Fasting for someone who has died
If the person had no chance to make up their days, for example the illness never ended, nothing is owed. If they had time and did not, the family can help.
Nabi ﷺ said: whoever dies owing fasts, their wali (close relative) fasts for them34. A man asked if he could fast for his mother, who died owing a month. Nabi ﷺ said yes: a debt to Allah has more right to be paid35.
- Hanafis and Malikis: no one fasts for another. Fidya is paid for each day from what they left, if they asked for it in their will. Family may also pay it as a gift.
- Shafi'is: the main view is fidya from what they left. Imam Nawawi and many Shafi'is say a relative may fast, following the hadith.
- Hanbalis: a relative may fast a vowed fast for them. For Ramadan days, feed a poor person for each day.
Either way it is a kindness, not a heavy duty, and relatives can share the days.
Sources for this section
- 34(Bukhari 1952)
- 35(Bukhari 1953)
Common questions
- I am pregnant and worried fasting will harm my baby.
- You may leave the fast36. Talk to your doctor and listen to your body. Make up the days later. If the worry was only for the baby, Shafi'is and Hanbalis add fidya, and Hanafis and Malikis say make up only. Taking this ease is not weak faith.
- I have diabetes. Can I fast?
- Ask your doctor before Ramadan. Many people with well-controlled diabetes fast safely with changes to their medicine. If your doctor says it is dangerous for you, do not fast. If it is lifelong, pay fidya. If your sugar drops too low during a fast, break it at once and make the day up.
- My period started an hour before sunset. Did I waste the day?
- The day does not count, so make up one day later. You can eat and drink now. There is no sin on you.
- I missed days years ago and do not know how many.
- Make your best honest guess, lean to the higher number, and start, for example every Monday and Thursday. Hanafis say no fidya for the delay. The other schools add a fidya for each day. Some scholars say that fidya does not apply if you did not know the rule, so ask one you trust. Do not let the number stop you.
- I work outside in strong heat.
- Hard work alone is not an excuse. Start the day fasting, and change your hours if you can. If you reach real danger, like dizziness or fainting, break the fast and make the day up.
- Can I take pills to delay my period in Ramadan?
- Many scholars allow it if a doctor says it is safe for you. But there is no need. The women around Nabi ﷺ simply made up their days later.
Sources for this section
- 36(Nasai 2315)
This guide teaches what most scholars hold and notes where the four schools differ. For your own situation, ask a scholar you trust or your local masjid.