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Miscellaneous issues in sawm - Part 4

IV. Other issues

1- Is it permissible to follow the Ahl aI-Sunnah in their timings for breaking the fast while one is in public or attending official gatherings and the like? What is one's duty if he thinks that doing so cannot be counted as one of the instances of precautionary dissemination [taqiyyah] and no compulsion is involved?

A: It is not permissible for a person bound by religious obligation [mukallaf] to follow others in determining the time for breaking the fast. He may not break the fast with choice unless he finds out himself or through a shar`i evidence that the night arrived and the day time has expired.

2- While fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, a person did something that he thought it would invalidate his fast. However, after Ramadan he realized that it was not so. What is the ruling concerning his fast?

A: If he did not intend to violate the fast and did not do anything that actually voids the fast, then his fast is valid.

3- A martyr had made a will to a friend asking him to perform the qada of some fasts on his behalf, for the sake of caution. However, the martyr's heirs do not give significance to such issues and it is not possible to put the matter before them. Moreover, fasting would involve hardship for that friend. Is there any other solution?

A: If the martyr had made a will to his friend asking him to fast on the martyr's behalf himself, the martyr's heirs do not have any obligation in this regard. Also if it is too difficult for the friend to fast, he also does not have any obligation.

4- I am obsessed by doubts - or to put it precisely I am [kathir al-waswasah] - especially in religious matters, and particularly in ritual matters. For instance, during the last Ramadan, I had a doubt whether I had swallowed some thick dust that had entered my mouth or not and whether I had spitted out water that I had drawn into my mouth? Is my fast valid?

A: In light of your question, your fast is valid and such doubts have no significance.

5- The tradition of the Kisa' [Hadith al-kisa'], which is narrated by Fatima al-Zahraa (a.s), is it a reliable tradition? Is it permissible to attribute it to her during fasting?

A: If the tradition is cited with reference to books where it has been reported, there is no problem in it.

6- I have heard from scholars and other normal people that if a person performing a recommended fast is invited to eat something, he can accept the invitation, and eating and drinking does not invalidate his fast or deprive him of its reward. Please express your view on the matter.

A: Accepting a believer's invitation is preferred by Islamic law over a recommended fast, and although eating and drinking breaks the fast, but it does not deprive one of the rewards of fasting.

7- There are certain supplications [du`as] to be invocated with in the month of Ramadan each of which is specified for a day in a sequence, starting with the supplication for the first day, followed by the one for the second day and so on. What is the rule on reciting them if there is a doubt as to their authenticity?

A: There is no problem in reciting them with the intent of hope of desirability [raja ' al-matlubiyyah].

8- A person intending to fast, does not rise to eat the meal before dawn [sahur]. Therefore he could not fast the following day. Does the guilt for not fasting fall on him or on someone who did not wake him up? Also, if one fasts without eating the meal of sahur, is his fast valid?

A: Breaking the fast due to inability to fast, even if it is due to not eating the meal of sahur, is not a sin. In any case others who did not wake you up are not liable to anything. Also, fasting without eating sahur is valid.

9- If a person is in confinement in a masjid for three or more days [i`tikaf] in Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, what rule applies to his fasting on the third day?

A: If he is a traveler and has intended a ten-day stay in Mecca or has vowed to fast while traveling, then after fasting for two days he must complete the confinement in the masjid [i`tikaf] by fasting on the third day. However, if he didn't make the intent to reside [iqamah] in that place or vow to fast while traveling, it is not valid for him to fast while traveling. And as the fast is invalid, the confinement in the masjid [i`tikaf] will also become invalid.

Adopted from the book : "Questions & Answers About Fast Accroding to Ayatollah Khamenei's Fatwa"

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