Mistakes During the Day of Fasting


As Ramadan is in its early days, 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 companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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. The basis of
our discussion will be the Hadiths related by Imam
Al-Bukhari in the section he devotes for fasting in his
Sahih. This means that there is no shred of doubt about the
authenticity of any Hadith we will be mentioning in these
articles.

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 mistakes, which may admittedly be rare, but it 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, he has not fasted, although the
difference in time may not be more than a few minutes, or
even less. 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 (peace be on him) 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 afterward,
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 learnt. His doubt about the compensation in
the second report applies only to this particular case.

Having said that, I should add 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 night time 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
that 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.

Courtesy of Arabnews.

________________________________________________________________________
Want to chat instantly with your online friends?  Get the FREE Yahoo!
Messenger http://mail.messenger.yahoo.co.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~