COMMON RAMADHAN ISSUES

Assalaamu ‘alaikum wr wb

Commencement of Fasting: Imsak or Subuh?

It is not compulsory to stop eating or drinking at the point of Imsak. The cut-off time is actually the time of Subuh prayer, as understood from the Quran and Sunnah. Hence, if we happen to wake up at Imsak time or between Imsak and Subuh, we can still take a light meal or a few sips of water. It does not annul fasting. It does not decrease the merits of fasting in any way.

The Imsak period is just a caution period so that we can actually prepare for Subuh. What can be done during Imsak is to brush our teeth and do some dental flossing. Important thing to take note is to set our clocks/watches precisely as some of us tend to set them earlier.

Intention: First Night of Ramadhan or Nightly?

We can drop the intention to fast in Ramadhan either every night or only on the first night of Ramadhan. If we drop the intention to only on the first night of Ramadhan, our intention is to fast for the whole month. If we drop it every night, our intention is to fast for the coming dawn till dusk only. Some prefer to combine both sets of intentions so that if they forget to drop the intention every night, the intention that has been dropped on the first night of Ramadhan will validate it. The differences of views among the scholars stemmed from the angles of seeing fasting as an integrated whole or broken each day by the breaking of fast. Scholars who viewed Ramadhan fasting as an integrated whole held that one intention sufficed. Scholars who viewed each performance of fasting as “annulled” by its breaking at dusk, held that a new intention must be dropped each night.

The intention itself must be in the heart, not recited verbally. Hence there is no need to memorize or utter the following “I intent to fast tomorrow in Ramadhan this year for Allah’s sake”. The intention to wake up for Sahur (pre-dawn meal), setting of the alarm clock for that purpose, the actual waking up, the eating or drinking during Sahur are indications of our intention to fast and any of them suffices. The main thing is our sincerity in fasting and not considering it as a burden for us. For if we consider it as a burden for us, that alone tarnishes the degree of sincerity which resides in the intention, since it indicates our reluctance to do it.

State of Ceremonial Impurity At Subuh

Being in a state of junub at Subuh before taking the obligatory bath does not annul fasting. It is the sexual activity itself that annuls fasting, not the state of impurity. Hence, a man and his wife who had sex, say, at 3 in the morning and then fell asleep and only woke up at Subuh time, need not fear of annulment of fasting for the day. However, they must immediately take the obligatory bath in order to perform Subuh prayer punctually.

Kissing While Fasting

Kissing does not annul fasting with the condition that one can control his/her desire. It is understood from the Sunnah that the Prophet himself kissed his wife while fasting and it is understood that (1) that was a simple kissing and (2) the Prophet was a person who can best control himself. Some scholars would restrict that only for the Prophet while some others would allow for others too with the condition that they can control their desire. What is meant by “controlling desire”? It means that such kissing does not and will not lead to sex which is forbidden during fasting.

Eye Ointment/Eye Drop

Application of Eye-Mo, Optrex and the like does not annul fasting. Donating or receiving blood or receiving an injection is okay too. Method wise, it does not go through the usual channel of eating and drinking – from the mouth to the throat to the stomach. Effect wise, it does not quench thirst nor quell hunger. Likewise, digging the nose, ears or swimming does not annul fasting on the condition that no water is swallowed via the mouth or nose that goes to the throat and then swallowed into the stomach. The Prophet had cautioned us from sniffing water vigourously into the nostrils during ablution while fasting because it might risk water entering the throat via the nose. Water that enters the ears does not annul fasting. Application of inhaler-like medication like Vicks Vaporub or the inhaler/spray used for asthma sufferers does not annul fasting. This is akin to tasting of food for those preparing dishes for break-fast meal (Iftar) which does not annul fasting. However, those are who sick may opt not to fast and repay the missed day(s) after Ramadhan. Swallowing a Panadol pill annuls fasting even without water for it passes the main channel of consumption, although it has no effect on hunger.

Fasting While Neglecting the Obligatory Prayers

Fasting without performing the obligatory prayers is fruitless because the obligatory solat is the fountainhead of Islam. In the hereafter, the obligatory prayers will be checked first. If they are accepted, other devotions like fasting, zakat, hajj, Al-Quran recitation, zikrullah etc will be admitted for checking. If they are not accepted, other devotions will not be considered. So there is no issue of acceptance if the obligatory prayers are not performed. It is like passing Mathematics, Science and Mother Tongue in a primary school examination but failing in English. Such student will be considered to have failed the entire examination and the entire year will be fruitless, because English language is the main subject. But this does not mean that Muslims in this category should abandon fasting altogether for if they do so, they have committed another sin of abandoning another pillar of Islam. Similarly, it is unwise to quit school altogether just because a student fails his English. What should be done is to observe both sets of obligations and consider them as an integrated devotion.

Fasting is unlike solat in some ways. We can perform solat with ablution (wudhu’) and if it is impossible with ablution, then with dry ablution (tayammum). Even if dry ablution is impossible, solat is still compulsory. The crux of solat is the remembrance of Allah. So even if one is unable to stand, he can perform solat sitting and if sitting is impossible, he can perform it lying down or only with signals. Fasting is different in the sense that the crux of it is not so much on zikr, but the subjugation of desire – eating, drinking and sex. If one can’t withstand hunger, thirst or sexual urge and breaks his/her fast by any of these, there can be no way that it can be considered performed. Hence we go without eating, drinking or sex while fasting whereas we go without eating, drinking and everything else while praying except for the rituals and recitations of prayer. Performance wise, the similarity in both fasting and prayer is that women on menstruation are exempted from performing them. Effect wise, they both stimulate vital “neurons” of Tauhid in us.

Zulkiflee

note : as emailed by abg long. jazakillah big bro.