What Is the Ruling of Intentionally Contravening past Ramadan Fasts?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

If one broke a fast in Ramadan intentionally during the previous ramadhan/s, when one was not practicing, and due to ignorance, not knowing the consequence of breaking a fast deliberately, what is the ruling or expiation for this, and if one can’t remember how many fast one broke?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

I commend your concern for your past acts of worship, which contravened the obligatory fasts of Ramadan. One should repent firstly to Allah (Most High) and seek His forgiveness. This is a debt that one owes Allah (Most High).

In the above case, one expiation (kaffara) will suffice for one or many major violations in previous Ramadan fasts.

One does not need to perform a separate expiation for each occurrence. One single expiation will be sufficient as a penalization and future deterrence. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

I hope this helps.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching 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 UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.