continuation....
THE ELDERLY
(30) The very elderly who have lost their strength and are getting weaker every day as death approaches do not have to fast, and they are allowed not to fast so long as fasting is difficult for them. Ibn 'Abbaas (R.A.) said concerning the aayah:
"And as for those who can fast with difficulty (e.g., an old man, etc.), they have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a poor person (for every day)." [Surah al-Baqarah 2:184]
"This has not been abrogated. It refers to the old man and the old woman who cannot fast, so they should feed a poor person for every day."
Those who have become senile and confused do not have to fast or do anything else, and their family does not have to do anything on their behalf either. Such people are no longer counted as responsible. If they are of sound mind sometimes and confused at other times, they have to fast when they are sound and they do not have to fast when they are confused.
(31) As for those who are fighting an enemy or are being besieged by them, they are allowed to break their fast if it might make them too weak to fight, even if they are not traveling. If they need to break their fast before fighting, they may do so. The Prophet (ﷺ) once said to his Companions before fighting:
"In the morning you are going to meet your enemy and not fasting will make you stronger, so do not fast."
This is also the preferred opinion of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah. The scholars of Damascus also issued fatwas to the same effect when their city was attacked by the Tatars.
(32) If a person's reason for not fasting is obvious, such as illness, there is nothing wrong with him eating or drinking openly. But if the reason is hidden, such as menstruation, it is better to eat and drink in secret so as not to attract accusations and the like.
NIYYAH (INTENTION) IN FASTING
(33) Niyyah (intention) is a required condition of the obligatory fast [of Ramadan] as well as other obligatory fasts, such as making up missed fasts or fasts done as an act of kaffaarah (expiation), because the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"There is no fast for the person who did not intend to fast from the night before."
The intention may be made at any point during the night, even if it is just a moment before Fajr. Niyyah means the resolution in the heart to do something; speaking it aloud is bid'ah (a reprehensible innovation), and anyone who knows that tomorrow is one of the days of Ramadan and wants to fast has [due to that knowledge, already] made the intention. (Majmoo' Fataawaa Shaykh al-Islam, 25/215).If a person intends to break his fast during the day but does not do so, then according to the most correct opinion, his fast is not adversely affected; he is like a person who wants to speak during the prayer but does not speak. Some of the scholars think that he is not fasting as soon as he stops intending to fast, so as a precaution, he should make up that fast later. Apostasy, however,invalidates the intention; there is no dispute on this matter. The person who is fasting Ramadan does not need to repeat the intention every night during Ramadan; it is sufficient to have the intention at the beginning of the month. If the intention is interrupted by breaking the fast due to travel or sickness, for example, he has to renew the intention to fast when the reason for breaking the fast is no longer present.
(34) Making the intention the night before is not a condition of general nafil (supererogatory or voluntary) fasts, because of the hadeeth narrated by 'Aa`ishah (R.A), who said:
"The Messenger of Allaah (ﷺ) entered upon me one day and said, 'Do you have anything (food)?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'In that case I am fasting.' "
But in the case of specific supererogatory fasts such as 'Arafah and 'Aashooraa´, it is better to be on the safe side and make the intention the night before.
(35) If a person embarks on an obligatory fast, such as making up for a day missed in Ramadan, fulfilling a vow, or fasting as an act of kaffaarah (expiation), he must complete the fast and is not permitted to break it unless he has a valid excuse for doing so. In the case of a nafil fast:
"The person who is observing a voluntary fast is his own ameer (leader), if he wishes he may [continue his] fast, and if he wishes he may break it."
...even if there is no reason to break it. The Prophet (ﷺ) awoke one morning and fasted, and then he ate.69 But will the person who breaks his fast for no reason be rewarded for the fasting that he has already done? Some of the scholars say that he will not be rewarded, so it is better for the person who is observing a voluntary fast to complete it unless there is a valid, pressing reason for him to stop fasting.
(36) If a person does not know that Ramadan has started until after dawn he must stop eating and drinking for the rest of the day and make that day up later on according to the majority of scholars, because the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"There is no fasting for the one who does not have the intention to fast from the night before."
(37) If a prisoner or captive knows that Ramadan has begun by sighting the moon himself or by being told by a trustworthy person, he must fast. If he does not know when the month is beginning, he must try to deduce it himself (ijtihaad) and act according to what he thinks is most likely. If at a later point he finds out that his fasting coincided with Ramadan, this is fine according to the majority of scholars, and if his fasting came after Ramadan, this is fine according to the majority of fuqahaa´. But if his fasting came before Ramadan, this is not acceptable and he must make up the fast. If part of his fasting coincided with Ramadan and part of it did not, what coincided with it or came after it is fine, but what came before is not. If the matter never becomes clear to him, then his fasting is acceptable because he did the best he could, and Allaah burdens not a person beyond his ability. TO BE CONTINUED INSHA ALLAH.....
