Meanwhile...

Meanwhile, according to the verdicts (Fatawa) of the religious authorities, if fasting is difficult or harmful for a child who has recently attained the age of maturity (as earlier stated), or he/she cannot fast, then, he/she is allowed to break the fast. However, he/she must observe the reparation (Qada) of the missed fasts thereafter. Another important condition for the obligation and validity of fasting is sanity.

That is to say, fasting -just like other obligatory acts- is considered obligatory and valid for a sane. In light of this, an insane person is exempted from this obligation during the period of his insanity. According to the verdicts (Fatawa) of the religious authorities, if an insane person recovers and becomes sane, it will not be obligatory for him to offer reparation for the fasts that he did not observe when he was insane [3] .

Consciousness is another condition for the obligation and validity of the Ramadan fast. In other words, the Ramadan fast is only considered obligatory for someone conscious. If, during the month of Ramadan, a person remains unconscious or in a coma for a day or several days and misses one or several fasts, they are not required to make up for the fasts thereafter.

If somebody misses one fast of Ramadan out of intoxication (e.g., being intoxicated, they do not make an intention to fast), they should make up for this fast in qadā’ even though they abstain from fast invalidators for the whole day. In addition, if a person leaves the fasts due to being intoxicated, even if the intoxicant was taken by him for medical treatment, he/she must offer reparation (qadā’) for those missed fasts.

According to the verdicts (Fatawa) of the religious authorities, if a fasting person becomes extraordinarily weak during the day of Ramadan due to genuine reasons such as work and which he could leave during this period, he could break the fast but he must avoid eating beyond the necessity. Thereafter, he must observe the qadā’ thereafter. Fasting is not obligatory for someone who, due to old age, cannot fast or finds fasting excessively difficult.

However, in the latter case, for each day [that he does not fast] he must give one Mudd of food – i.e., wheat, barley, bread, or suchlike – to a poor person. However, if someone who has not fasted on account of old age can fast after the month of Ramadan, the recommended precaution is that he should make up the fasts that he did not keep.