Download
0 / 0

He has tuberculosis and the doctors have advised him not to fast for five years

Question: 106466

I am a tuberculosis patient. I was under treatment for two years and the doctors advised me not to fast, and scared me that if I fast the disease will come back to me. They advised me not to fast for five years. What is the ruling on doing this?.

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night
of) the month (of Ramadan i.e. is present at his home), he must observe Sawm
(fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of
days which one did not observe Sawm (fasts) must be made up] from other
days”

[al-Baqarah 2:185]. 

i.e., if a person is physically sick and it is too hard for
him to fast or he will be harmed by fasting, or he is travelling, he is
allowed not to fast, but he has to make up the number of days that he did
not fast. Hence Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Allaah
intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you”
[al-Baqarah 2:185]. The scholars have stated that if a trustworthy
Muslim doctor states that fasting will be harmful to a sick person, or will
make his sickness worse or delay his recovery and the like, then not fasting
in this case is permissible according to sharee’ah. If the doctor is not
Muslim, or he is Muslim but he is not of good character, then his opinion
should not be accepted except in cases of necessity, such as if it is not
possible to ask another doctor. If it is a necessity and other factors
indicate that the non-Muslim is telling the truth, such as if the sick
person feels the same thing, or it is well known that this sickness is
something that gets worse with fasting and that will make recovery
difficult, then in that case it is permissible not to fast until Allaah
heals him and he becomes strong enough to fast without adverse effects. 

With regard to the past months, you have to make them up after you recover, and there is no expiation for delaying it, because you did not make them up because you were still sick. End quote. 

Source

Islam Q&A

Was this answer helpful?

at email

Our newsletter

To join our newsletter please add your email below

phone

IslamQA App

For a quick access to our content and offline browsing

download iosdownload android
at email

Our newsletter

To join our newsletter please add your email below

phone

IslamQA App

For a quick access to our content and offline browsing

download iosdownload android