Fasting Sawm

Section Four: Rulings of Niyyah [intention] For Fasting

1- If during Ramadan one ignorantly or forgetfully, intended to fast for a purpose other than Ramadan, what is the ruling about his sawm?

A: In the given question his sawm is correct and valid to be considered as part of the fast of Ramadan.

2- In niyyah is it obligatory to determine the subject in details?

A: It is not obligatory. It is sufficient to intend the wanted sawm, i.e. if he wanted to fast Ramadan at a time when it is obligatory, it is valid to intend the sawm of the month of Ramadan.

3- Is it possible to fast during the month of Ramadan, consciously aware of the niyyah, other than Ramadan fasts?

A: It is incorrect and cannot be applied either to the month of Ramadan or to the niyyah one had intended.

4- If the mukallaf wanted to make a fast other than that of Ramadan, is he obliged to specify it in the niyyah?

A: If the kinds of sawm he is allowed to fast are more than one kind, he is obliged to sepcify it.

5- Is one niyyah sufficient for the whole month of Ramadan?

A: It is sufficient if it would continue every day till the end of the month.

6- Is there a specific form of niyyah in the Islamic law?

A: There is no specific form. The standard is the occurance of the sawm with continuing determination or desire in one''s mind even though if this would take place just before the fajr of a day of fasting or even before that.

7- If a mukallaf intends either to cancel his sawm by abolishing its niyyah or to perform anything that would invalidate it during the month of Ramadan, its qada or the sawm of the kaffarah or nadhr, then what is the ruling of his sawm?

A: If he just intends to perform or take anything that would invalidate the sawm, it would not harm the correctness of the sawm unless he had already eaten something except if he became aware that this would entail the intention of canceling his sawm by abolishing its niyyah. While the niyyah of canceling the fasting by the determination to abolish it completely will invalidate the obligatory and time specific sawm, in general. In case of obligatory time-non-specific sawm it would not be invalidated with this intention in case that he returned to the niyyah of the sawm before the zawal.

8- If a mukallaf did not intend to fast for the month of Ramadan due to forgetting the ruling or the subject, then what is the ruling if he became aware:

First: before zawal and before eating anything.

Second: after zawal and before eating anything. Third: after he eats something.

A: If he became aware only after he committed an act which would void the sawm, his sawm is void and he is obliged to refrain from eating for the rest of the day. While if he becam aware before that, then if it was after zawal, his sawm is void, while if it was before zawal, then it is based on obligatory precaution to intend to observe sawm at this day and do fast and perform its qada later on.

Section five: The rulings of those things which break the fast:

(1) & (2) Eating and Drinking

1- If a fasting person introduced food or drinks into his body through a way other than the normal one (e.g. introducing water through the nose), what is the ruling of his sawm?

A: Taking food or drink would invalidate the sawm even if they had been introduced through other than the normal manner.

2- Would the entrance of anything which breaks the fast into the body through a wound or the ear invalidate the sawm?

A: If it came to the mouth cavity and then through the throat to the stomach or it is considered as food and used for nutrition, then it would invalidate the sawm, otherwise it would not.

3- If the saim [fasting person] had swallowed nasal secretions before it reached the mouth cavity, would that harm his sawm?

A: In the given question, it would not harm the sawm.

4- A saim has something in his mouth wet with his saliva then he takes it out and returns it again to his mouth and swallowed the saliva on it, what is the ruling concerning this? With details please.

A: In the given question, his sawm would be invalidated by swallowing the moisture of his saliva unless this moisture was so little and it is mixed with amount of saliva in the mouth to the extent that it could not be considered that he had swallowed the saliva which had come out. 5- Is tooth picking after a meal obligatory for those who want to fast?

A: It is not obligatory unless one is certain that there are remnants of food between his teeth and he is sure that if he did not pick it out, they would get inside the throat.

6- If a saim had taken food or drink, forgetfully or inattentively, during the month of Ramadan or the sawm of its qada or during sawm al-mustahabb, what is the ruling concerning this?

A: Taking food or drink forgetfully or inattentively would not invalidate the sawm with no difference between its types.

7- If a saim while rinsing his mouth with water for wudu of salat al-wajibah or mustahabbah or not for salat and the water is inattentively swallowed, what is the ruling?

A: In the given question, this would not invalidate his sawm.

8. When I was fasting, my mother forced me to eat or drink. Did it invalidate my fast?

A: Eating and drinking invalidates fast, even if it is done at the request or insistence of someone.

9. If something is forced into the mouth of someone fasting, or his head is forcefully submerged in water, does it invalidate the fast? What if one is coerced to break his/her fast, and he/she does it to avoid danger, for instance if he/she is told: If you do not eat, we will hurt you or your property. Is his/her fast valid?

A: Forcing food into someone''s month without his consent does not invalidate his/her fast and neither does submerging his/her head in water.

However, if one breaks the fast himself when forced or threatened by someone, the fasting becomes void.

10. While suffering from a cold, some mucus gathered in my mouth and I swallowed it instead of spitting it out. Was my fast valid? Also, once, while staying for some days with one of my relatives during the blessed month of Ramadan as I had a cold, and moreover felt shy to perform major ablution for the state of major impurity [ghusl al-janabah], so I did dry ablution [tayammum] instead, which I did not perform until some time before noon. This happened for several days. Were my fasts for those days valid? If not, do I have to pay the kaffarah as well?

A: Swallowing the mucus does not make one liable to anything, though as obligatory precaution one should perform qada of that fast if it is done after the mucus enters the mouth. As for not performing ghusl al-janabah before dawn, if the tayammum was done because of some legal excuse or done at the last moment due to shortness of time, then your fasting is valid; otherwise your fasts for those days are void.