Which Health Conditions Permit One to Not Fast?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Question
I wondered if I was allowed not to fast this Ramadan because I am both diabetic and I gained a recent rare disease that impedes my ability to fast correctly. In the past, I was able to fast because I would be able to eat complex sugars. Still, I cannot eat proper foods before fajr because of this new disease.
I can only eat small yoghurt and hummus-like products, which will not keep my overall sugar at a higher level throughout the day, which would cause my blood sugar levels to drop, putting me at significant health risk. Thank you for reading this and jazakallah khair.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to that which pleases Him, Amin.
Thank you for your question, and may Allah grant you a complete cure and perfect health. If you have a disease that makes fasting a risk to your health, and a God-fearing doctor confirms this (or you know this with certainty), you should not fast, and Allah knows best.
Which Ill Person Is Not Obliged to Fast?
Someone whose fasting exhausts him because of advanced years or has an illness from which he is unlikely to recover is not obliged to fast. The illness that permits not fasting is that which fasting would worsen, delay recovery from, or cause one considerable harm; the same dispensation applies to someone who needs to take medicine during the day that breaks the fast and that he can not delay taking until night. [Keller, Reliance of the Traveler]
I pray this is of benefit.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
