Am I Excused from Fasting if My Parents Prevent Me and Harm Me?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

If my parents prevent me from fasting and harm me if I try to fast, am I excused from fasting?

Answer

I pray you are well.

When There Is a Genuine Health Concern

Sometimes parents prevent their children from fasting out of concern for their health. If there is a genuine medical concern, and a practicing Muslim doctor advises that fasting may be harmful, then this is a different matter and should be taken seriously.

However, many parents worry unnecessarily. Unless someone has a serious health issue, fasting generally does not harm the body. In fact, it can be beneficial.

Many people begin fasting at a young age and manage it without difficulty. Children often find the first few days challenging, feeling hungry or thirsty, but they gradually become accustomed to it.

Parents Who Prevent Religious Practice

In some cases, parents themselves are not practicing and prevent their children from practicing the religion. This is wrong, and they will have to answer to Allah Most High for it.

When children are prevented from fasting as young children, they may grow up not seeing fasting as important. As a result, they may later neglect fasting in Ramadan altogether.

In earlier times, it would have been unheard of for a Muslim to eat during the daytime of Ramadan openly. The jurists spoke strongly about this because the matter was so serious in their societies. Today, however, it has become common in some places to see Muslims eating openly during Ramadan, which is a serious problem.

Part of the cause of this is that some parents fail to cultivate in their children the importance and desire to fast.

If You Are an Adult

If you are an adult, then you should fast. Your parents should not prevent you from fulfilling your religious obligations.

You can explain to them respectfully that you are no longer a child and that you intend to fast.

If You Are Younger and Facing Harm

There may be a difficult situation for someone younger, such as in their early teenage years.

Technically, this does not excuse the obligation of fasting. However, if the situation reaches the point where the parents are actively preventing the fast and causing harm, the person should manage it carefully.

If it is not possible to fast because of their actions, then they should keep a record of the missed fasts and make them up later.

Managing the Situation Wisely

If possible, it may help to involve another trusted family member, such as a relative or an uncle, who can speak to the parents and help resolve the matter without causing unnecessary tension.

If addressing the matter directly leads to significant conflict, then the person should manage the situation in a way that minimizes harm and conflict until they are older, while keeping track of the fasts that must later be made up.

The parents are wrong for preventing their child from fasting.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr. Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr. Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.