Question:
- What is the ruling for a man who leaves off fasting in Ramadan so that he can earn money to live off of for him and his family?
Answer:
- This man left off fasting the month of Ramadan because he wanted to earn money for himself and his children. If he did this out because of a misunderstanding which leads him to believe that he is like the sick person. He thinks that just as it is permissible for the sick person to break his fast, that it is permissible for him to break his fast because he is not able to live with out breaking his fast. Then this person is responsible for making up Ramadan (because of his misunderstanding) if he is alive, or someone fasts for him if he is dead. If the fast was not made up for him, then one poor person is fed for him for every day he broke the fast.
- But if he left it off for a reason other then the fact that he misunderstood the issue, then the most correct opinion is that every act of worship that has a set time, if it is moved out side of its time then there is no excuse for this. Then it is not accepted from him. Rather he should do as much good deeds as possible. He should busy himself in non obligatory acts of worship and seeking forgiveness. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours [i.e., Islam] that is not a part of it, will have it rejected.” [narrated in both Bukhari and Muslim]. So just like the forms of worship that have a specified time period are not done before its time, they are not done after its time either. If there was an excuse like ignorance or being forgetful it is different. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said about forgetfulness, “Who ever over sleeps for the prayer or forgets it, then he should pray it when he remembers it. There is no way to make up for it except that”. [Narrated by Muslim]. The situation of ignorance needs to be broken down, but this is not the time or place for that.
[Taken from Fatwah Arkan il Islam by Sheikh Uthaimeen]
[Translated by Abu Abdillah Abdul Lateef]
