Fasting, - Doupht&clear, - * Is it better for one who is sick not to fast in Ramadaan?

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Is it better for a sick person not to fast, or to put up with the difficulties and fast?.
Praise be to Allaah.
If fasting will be too difficult for the one who is sick, it is better for him not to fast, and to make up the days that he did not fast later on. It is not mustahabb for him to fast if it is too difficult.
The evidence for that is as follows:
1 – Ahmad (5832) narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: The Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah loves His concessions to be accepted just as He hates for acts of disobedience to be committed.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inIrwa’ al-Ghaleel, 564.
2 – al-Bukhaari (6786) and Muslim (2327) narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was never given the choice between two things but he would choose the easier of them, unless it was a sin. If it was a sin he would be the furthest away from it.
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This shows that it is mustahabb to choose the easier and gentler option, so long as it is not haraam or makrooh.
Rather it is makrooh for one who is sick to fast if fasting is too difficult for him. His fasting may be haraam if there is the fear that he may be harmed because of fasting.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: (2/276):
In the case of one who is sick, two scenarios may apply:
1 – He is not able to fast at all, so he has to break his fast and it is obligatory for him not to fast.
2 – If he is able to fast but that will cause him harm and be difficult for him. In this case it is mustahabb for him to break his fast and not to fast; in this case only an ignorant person would fast.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said inal-Mughni, 4/404:
If a sick person is able to put up with fasting and does so, then he has done something which is makrooh, because of the harm that results from that and because he has neglected the concession granted by Allaah.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said inal-Sharh al-Mumti’(6/352):
From this we realize the mistake made by the mujaahideen and sick people for whom fasting is difficult and may even cause them harm, but they refuse to break the fast. We said that they are making a mistake when they do not accept the kindness of Allaah and the concession He has granted, and they are harming themselves. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And do not kill yourselves”
[al-Nisa’ 4:29]
And Allaah knows best.

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Fasting, - Doupht&clear, - * He has a stomach ulcer and the doctors have advised him not to fast

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There is a man who has had a stomach ulcer for eight years, and he is still undergoing treatment. The doctors have advised him not to fast lest it make the illness worse. Is that permissible for him?.
Praise be to Allaah.
He is allowed not to fast, but he has to make it up after he recovers if there is the hope that he will recover. If that is not the case and it is not possible that he will recover from this sickness, then he may feed one poor person for each day of the month of Ramadaan. End quote.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem (may Allaah have mercy on him) (4/180).

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Fasting, - Doupht&clear, - * Can he break his fast during the day in Ramadaan because of a medical examination?

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I am going to have some diagnostic imaging done at the hospital, and this means that I cannot fast on that day. If I do not do this imaging now, I will not get another appointment for several months. Is it permissible for me to break my fast in order to do this imaging?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is permissible for one who is sick to break his fast, and he has to make up the days that he does not fast because of sickness, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days which one did not observe Sawm (fasts) must be made up] from other days”
[al-Baqarah 2:185]
The kind of sickness which means that a person is allowed not to fast is severe sickness which causes hardship or harm to the person if he fasts, or which it is feared will make the sickness worse or delay recovery because of fasting. The scholars also said that this applies if it is feared that a person may become sick because of fasting.
If your sickness falls into any of these categories (as appears to be the case), it is permissible for you not to fast, because diagnostic imaging helps to determine the sickness and thus prevent it getting worse or delaying recovery.
But if your sickness does not fall into any of these categories, then it is not permissible for you to break your fast, and you should try to do the imaging at night if you can, or wait until Ramadaan is over.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen said:
The person who is sick with a temporary illness falls into one of three categories:
1 – Those for whom fasting is not difficult and does not cause hardship. They have to fast and are not excused.
2 – Those for whom fasting is difficult but does not cause harm. It is makrooh for them to fast because that means they are rejecting a concession granted to them by Allaah, as well as being hard on themselves.
3 – Those for whom fasting is harmful. It is haraam for them to fast because that means they are bringing harm upon themselves. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And do not kill yourselves”
[al-Nisa’ 4:29]
“and do not throw yourselves into destruction”
[al-Baqarah 2:195]
According to the hadeeth, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” Narrated by Ibn Maajah and al-Haakim. Al-Nawawi said: it has isnaads which strengthen one another. Whether or not fasting is harmful for a sick person is known either from the person feeling that himself or a trustworthy doctor telling him of that.
If a sick person breaks his fast, he has to make up the number of days that he missed when he recovers. If he dies before recovering, then that obligation no longer applies because the command is to make up the fasts from other days, but he did not live to see those other days.
Fusool fi’l-Siyaam wa’l-Taraaweeh(part 3).
And Allaah knows best.

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Fasting, - Doupht&clear, - * How should a person who suffers kidney failure fast?

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How should a person who suffers kidney failure and who has dialysis three times a week fast?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The Standing Committee was asked:
Does kidney dialysis affect a person’s fast?
They replied:
We wrote to the Director of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and the Director of the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh to find out more about what is involved in kidney dialysis and whether chemical substances are used, and whether it is regarded as a kind of nourishment.
They replied as follows: kidney dialysis involves taking the patient’s blood into a machine (an artificial kidney) which cleans it then returns it to the body. It also adds some chemical and nutrients such as sugars and salts etc. to the blood.
After studying the matter and discovering the nature of kidney dialysis with the help of some experts in the field, the Standing Committee issued a fatwa stating that kidney dialysis invalidates the fast.
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about a person who undergoes kidney dialysis – does having his blood removed during the procedure invalidate his wudoo’? How should he fast and pray whilst having dialysis done, if that coincides with the time of prayer?
He replied:
With regard to wudoo’, it does not invalidate wudoo’, because the correct scholarly view is that what comes out of the body does not invalidate wudoo’ unless it comes out of either the front or back passage. Whatever comes out of those two passages invalidates wudoo’, whether it is urine, stools or wind. Everything that comes out of the two passages invalidates wudoo’.
With regard to that which comes out of anywhere other than the two passages, such as a nosebleed that comes out of the nose, or blood that comes out of a wound, and so on, it does not invalidate wudoo’ whether in small or large quantities. Based on this, kidney dialysis does not invalidate wudoo’.
With regard to prayer, the patient can join Zuhr and ‘Asr, and Maghrib and ‘Isha’. He can plan his schedule with his doctor, to make sure that the dialysis will not take more than half the day, so that he will not miss praying Zuhr and ‘Asr on time. He can say to him, for example: Schedule the dialysis in the early afternoon, giving me enough time to pray Zuhr and ‘Asr, or bring it forward so that I will be able to pray Zuhr and ‘Asr (afterwards), before the time for ‘Asr ends. What matters is that it is permissible to combine the prayers without delaying them. Based on this it is essential to plan one’s schedule with one’s doctor.
With regard to fasting, we are not sure about that. Sometimes I would say that it is not like cupping, because with cupping blood is taken and not returned to the body, and this invalidates the fast as it says in the hadeeth. In dialysis blood is taken from the body, cleaned and returned to the body. But I am concerned that dialysis involves some nutrients which take the place of food and drink. If that is the case then it does invalidate the fast. In that case if this is a lifelong condition with no hope of recovery, then he should feed one poor person for each day. But if it happens intermittently, then he should not fast when he is undergoing dialysis and make up that day later on.
But if the substances that are mixed with the blood do not include nutrients, rather they simply cleanse the blood, then this does not break the fast. In this case he may use dialysis even if he is fasting. He should refer to the doctors about this matter.
Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 20/113.
In conclusion:
A person who is suffering from kidney failure should not fast on the days when he has dialysis, then if he can make up the fast he should do so. If he cannot make up the fasts because he is elderly and cannot fast, then he should not fast and should feed one poor person for each day.

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