Should I Make up Missed Fasts Towards the End of My Childhood?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
There was this year of Ramadan when I knew I had broken 5 of my fasts, and I fasted 25-24 days. Although I am not sure whether I had reached the age of puberty, and I don’t remember whether I was 11 or 12 this year that I had broken these fasts. I wanted to know if I am supposed to fast to make those days up or not.
Also, is the middle part of the hairstyle permissible for men?
Answer
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
You don’t have to make up those fasts because doubts regarding reaching puberty are not enough to go against the certainty that you were a child before these doubts.
This answer is an application of the following legal principle: “A doubt does not lift certainty.” [Majalla]
This is, in turn, based on the following verse of the Quran: “Most of them follow nothing but conjectures. Surely, conjectures are of no avail in the matter of truth at all.” [Quran, 10:36; Du‘ass, al-Qawa‘id al-Fiqhiyya]
There is nothing wrong with parting one’s hair from the middle.
Please see
How Was the Prophet’s Hair (Allah Bless Him and Give Him Peace)?
And Allah knows best.
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching for ways to learn Islam reliably and was disappointed at the answers he found locally.
Then, he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the different teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.
He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
