Do I Have to Fast If My Health Condition Worsens with Fasting?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question
Do I have to fast if my health condition worsens with fasting?
Answer
I pray you are well.
If your health condition worsens with fasting, then in that situation, you do not have to fast. Keep an eye on your health and make a note of how many fasts you have missed.
Making Up Missed Fasts
If you can make them up later, such as during the shorter days of winter, then you should do so. If you are unable to make them up immediately, but your health improves later, then you should make up the missed fasts at that time.
If Your Health Will Not Improve
If your health will never improve, which is the case for some people with ongoing or permanent health conditions, then you should pay a fidya. We ask Allah for ease and well-being. In such a case, you pay a fidya for each day missed. This is the value of approximately two kilograms of flour for each day. One may estimate this amount and give it to a poor person, whether that is a smaller amount per day or a combined amount over the year.
However, if you can fast in the future or expect to be able to fast later on, then you are required to make up for the missed fasts.
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.
