What Are the Excuses for Breaking the Fast?
ما الأعذار التي يفطر بها الصائم؟
A woman who is menstruating or has postpartum bleeding: Fasting is not valid for her, so she must break her fast and make up for the missed days. The sick person who is unable to fast. The elderly (both men and women). The traveller: It is permissible for him to break his fast, but not an obligation, and he must make up for those days if he breaks the fast. The insane person: It is not obligatory for him, and it is not valid, and he does not have to make up for those days.
(For those who can only fast with extreme difficulty, compensation can be made by feeding a needy person ˹for every day not fasted˺) [Al-Baqarah 2:184]
(So whoever is present this month, let them fast. But whoever is ill or on a journey, then ˹let them fast˺ an equal number of days ˹after Ramaḍân˺.) [Al-Baqarah 2:185]
الحائض والنفساء: لا يصح منها الصوم فيجب عليها الفطر والقضاء. المريض الذي لا يقدر على الصوم. الشيخ الكبير والمرأة العجوز. المسافر: يجوز له الفطر ولا يجب عليه، ويلزمه القضاء إن أفطر. المجنون: لا يجب عليه ولا يصح منه ولا يلزمه القضاء.
(وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ) [البقرة 2: 184]
(فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ) [البقرة 2: 185]
1. The Sick and the Traveler | ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر
But whoever is ill or on a journey, then let them fast an equal number of days after Ramadan (2:185). Ibn Kathir explains that after making the fast binding, Allah repeated the concession for the sick and the traveler to break it, on condition of making it up: one whose illness makes fasting hard or harmful, or who is on a journey, may break the fast, and then owes the days he broke. Anas said: We used to travel with the Prophet, and the one fasting did not blame the one not fasting, nor the one not fasting the one fasting (Sahih al-Bukhari 1947).
وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ (سورة البقرة: 185)
قال تعالى: (ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخر) (البقرة 2: 185)، قال ابن كثير: ولما حتم الصيام أعاد ذكر الرخصة للمريض وللمسافر في الإفطار، بشرط القضاء، معناه: ومن كان به مرض في بدنه يشق عليه الصيام معه، أو يؤذيه أو كان على سفر أي في حال سفر فله أن يفطر، فإذا أفطر فعليه بعدة ما أفطره في السفر من الأيام، وقال أنس رضي الله عنه: "كنا نسافر مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فلم يعب الصائم على المفطر، ولا المفطر على الصائم" (صحيح البخاري 1947).
2. Menstruation and Postpartum Bleeding | فنؤمر بقضاء الصوم
Mu’adhah asked Aishah why a menstruating woman makes up the fast but not the prayer; Aishah said: That would happen to us, and we were commanded to make up the fast, and we were not commanded to make up the prayer (Sahih Muslim 335). This is the scholar’s ruling: the fast is not valid from her, so she breaks it and makes up the days.
قالت معاذة: سألت عائشة فقلت: ما بال الحائض تقضي الصوم ولا تقضي الصلاة؟ فقالت: "كان يصيبنا ذلك فنؤمر بقضاء الصوم ولا نؤمر بقضاء الصلاة" (صحيح مسلم 335).
3. The Elderly Man and Woman | هو الشيخ الكبير والمرأة الكبيرة
For those who can only fast with extreme difficulty, compensation can be made by feeding a needy person for every day not fasted (2:184). Ibn Abbas said of this verse: It is not abrogated; it is the old man and the old woman who are not able to fast: they feed a poor person in place of each day (Sahih al-Bukhari 4505). Ibn Kathir cites the same from Ibn Abbas: the very old may break the fast and feed a poor person for each day.
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ (سورة البقرة: 184)
قال تعالى: (وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكين) (البقرة 2: 184)، قال ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما: "ليست بمنسوخة، هو الشيخ الكبير والمرأة الكبيرة لا يستطيعان أن يصوما، فليطعمان مكان كل يوم مسكينا" (صحيح البخاري 4505).
4. Allah Intends Ease for You | يريد الله بكم اليسر
Allah intends ease for you, not hardship (2:185). Ibn Kathir explains: He granted the concession to break the fast in illness and on a journey, while it stays binding on the healthy resident, as an ease and a mercy to you. The insane person, the scholar says, owes nothing at all, for the pen is lifted from him, as explained in who is obligated to fast.
يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ (سورة البقرة: 185)
قال تعالى: (يريد الله بكم اليسر ولا يريد بكم العسر) (البقرة 2: 185)، قال ابن كثير: أي: إنما رخص لكم في الفطر في حال المرض وفي السفر، مع تحتمه في حق المقيم الصحيح، تيسيرا عليكم ورحمة بكم.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Who is excused from fasting in Ramadan?
Women who are menstruating or have postpartum bleeding, the sick person unable to fast, the elderly man and woman who cannot fast, the traveler, and the insane person.
Must a menstruating woman make up the missed fasts?
Yes. Aishah said: We were commanded to make up the fast, and we were not commanded to make up the prayer (Sahih Muslim 335).
Must a traveler break the fast?
No. It is permitted, not required, and he makes up the days if he breaks it; on journeys with the Prophet, neither the fasting nor the non-fasting blamed the other (Sahih al-Bukhari 1947).
What does an old person who cannot fast do?
Ibn Abbas said: The old man and the old woman who are not able to fast feed a poor person in place of each day (Sahih al-Bukhari 4505).