The
Blessed Month: Mistakes During The Day Of Fasting
Islamic Perspectives - Muslim JournalsArab News
& Information - By Adil Salahi
Since it is the beginning of Ramadan, it is useful
to remind ourselves of some of the important aspects
of this blessed month and the unique worship that is
offered in it. We will comment on a number of
authentic hadiths that tell us how the Prophet’s
(peace be upon him) companions approached this great
worship. We will also learn certain aspects of the
Prophet’s guidance with regard to problems people may
have to face in their fasting days. We will only quote
hadiths related by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, which
means that they are absolutely authentic.
When the idea of mistakes taking place during the day
of fasting is mentioned, most people think of eating
or drinking, by mistake, through genuine
forgetfulness. People may take a bite or a drink,
totally oblivious of the fact that they are fasting.
However, there is a different type of mistake, which
may admittedly be rare, but may take place
nevertheless. Hence, it is important to know what
Islam says about it in order to make certain that
one’s fasting is complete. The mistake to which I am
referring is to end the day of fasting before sunset,
the appropriate time for ending the fast. Obviously,
if one knowingly ends his fast before sunset, even by
a few minutes, or even less, he has not fasted. What
we are speaking about is when this takes place as a
result of a genuine mistake.
The answer to this point is given in a hadith reported
by Hisham ibn Urwah who heard it from Fatimah on the
authority of Asmaa bint Abu Bakr, herself a companion
of the Prophet. She says: “We finished our fast during
the lifetime of the Prophet on a cloudy day, then the
sun came out again (in full view).” Hisham was asked:
“Were they ordered to fast another day in
compensation?” He answered: “Compensation is a must.”
Ma’mar reports that he heard Hisham saying: “I do not
know whether they fasted in compensation or not.”
Before explaining this hadith, it is perhaps worth
mentioning that Fatimah who is mentioned in the hadith
as the intermediate reporter between Hisham and Asmaa
was Hisham’s cousin and wife. Asmaa was the
grandmother of both of them. She was a close companion
of the Prophet, not only due to her being the daughter
of his closest companion. She was also Aisha’s sister,
i.e. she was the Prophet’s sister-in-law.
It is understood from her statement that because of
thick clouds which gathered over Madinah, people
thought that the time of sunset had passed and it was
already time for ending the fast. This was felt by
everyone since the reference is to the Muslim
community having ended the fast, not to a particular
person or family. Shortly afterwards, the clouds began
to clear and people were able to see the sun in full
view. The Arabic statement suggests that the whole of
the sun was visible. There was no doubt whatsoever
about the mistake in timing. Asmaa’s statement,
however, does not mention what happened as a result.
Hence the question was put to Hisham, the reporter of
this hadith, whether they were told to compensate for
this mistake by fasting another day instead. His
answer makes it clear that compensation is required.
However, there is an addition of another report
attributed to Ma’mar which quotes Hisham expressing
his lack of knowledge on whether the companions of the
Prophet fasted a day instead or not. These two reports
seem to contradict each other. In one of them, Hisham
is quoted as giving a clear verdict that compensation
is required. In the other, he does not know whether
the companions of the Prophet compensated for that day
or not. It is easy, however, to remove this
contradiction by saying that Hisham’s verdict
requiring compensation is based on other reports or
hadiths which he had learned. His doubt about the
compensation in the second report applies only to this
particular case.
Having said that, it should be added that the question
itself is debatable, with some scholars having the
view that compensation is required, while others
maintaining that it is not. The argument of those who
do not require compensation is based on the fact that
ending the fast took place by genuine mistake. The
Prophet states clearly that Muslims are not
accountable for what they do by genuine mistake. Since
those people who ended their fast had no intention
whatsoever of breaking their fast before time, and
they genuinely believed that they were finishing the
day of fasting on time, then their fasting is
acceptable.
Those who argue that compensation is required feel
that whatever the reason, the fasting was not
complete. This was seen by all to be the case when the
sun appeared in full view sometime later. Since it
became a certainty that the day of fasting was not
completed, compensation for it was required.
Obviously, there is no blame attached to any of the
Prophet’s companions for having ended the fast early
on that day. Similarly, anyone who finishes his
fasting before time, through a genuine mistake,
remains free of blame. This may happen in a variety of
ways such as in the case of a person who goes to sleep
during the day and wakes up not knowing what time it
is. If the day is overcast, he may genuinely believe
that it is already nighttime and he may finish his
fasting. If he later discovers that he has ended his
fast too early, then he is in the same position in
which the companions of the Prophet found themselves
on that particular occasion related by Asmaa. If one
has to balance between the two views and their
arguments, one is bound to say that it is much
preferable to compensate for such a mistake by fasting
on another day. This gives him the reward of fasting
the full number of days, in addition to a reward for
his intention to make his worship of fasting complete.
As for the other, more common type of mistake, which
involves eating or drinking in a moment of
forgetfulness, when one totally forgets that he is
fasting, the unanimous opinion of all scholars is that
such a mistake does not affect the validity of fasting
in anyway. The Prophet describes the person who makes
such a genuine mistake as one who “has been given food
or drink by God.” This makes the food or drink taken a
gift from God. When God grants someone a gift, He does
not question him about using it. The person concerned
should simply rinse his mouth and continue fasting
till the end of the day. Needless to say, this must
take place in a moment of total forgetfulness, i.e.
through a genuine mistake. If there is any suspicion
that at the time of eating or drinking, the person was
even very slightly aware that he was fasting, then the
case is totally different. It is then a case of
knowingly ending the fast before time, which is a very
grave sin. In such a case, genuine repentance is
required before compensation may be offered.
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