Do I Have to Do a Kaffara for Breaking Multiple Fasts Despite My Young Age?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I am a 14-year-old girl who has to make up many fasts. My parents generally don’t want me to fast too much, and we usually have little food by the end of the night, so they wouldn’t want me to fast without the predawn meal (suhur). On top of that, for some of the fasts that I have performed in puberty, I drank water after the adhan, and my parents told me that it was ok because I was young. Do I now have to do kaffara? There is no way my parents would let me do it. Would donating to needy people be permissible in this case for the making up of fasts and/or kaffara? A lot of this is very overwhelming.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for being mindful of His commands at a young age and turning to us for seeking guidance despite the difficulty in the family.
I suggest you follow the Shafi‘i School in your case due to the difficulty. In the Shafi‘i School, eating purposefully during a fast in Ramadan invalidates and requires one to make up the fast.
Estimate all the fasts you broke and keep them when it is easier for you, for example, during the shorter days of winter, and spread them out, intending to keep them when you grow up while keeping a note of the number of fasts you need to make up.
In the Shafi‘i School, eating on purpose during a fast in Ramadan invalidates the fast and requires you to fast for the remainder of the day and make up the fast.
[Ibn al-Naqib, Umdat al-Salik]
May Allah continue to guide you and give you growing strength and knowledge. Amin
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
Related
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
