What if someone breaks a Ramadan fast deliberately? (Kaffarah)
The question as asked, details removedWhat is the penalty for deliberately eating or drinking during a Ramadan fast?More
This is a sample answer written to show how the site works. It follows the standard Hanafi books, but no mufti has reviewed or signed it yet, so it is not a fatwa. For a real answer, ask a question. Ask a mufti
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِكِ الْوَهَّابِ اَللّٰهُمَّ هِدَايَةَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
1Short answer
Deliberately eating, drinking or having intercourse during a Ramadan fast without a valid excuse requires both qada and kaffarah. The kaffarah is fasting 60 days in a row; someone unable to fast feeds 60 poor people. Other ways of breaking the fast need only qada.
2Detailed answer
If a person who made the intention for a Ramadan fast at night then deliberately eats, drinks or has intercourse during the day without a Shar'i excuse:
- They must make up that fast (qada).
- They must also give kaffarah: fast 60 days continuously. If a day is missed in between, they start the 60 again. A woman's menstruation does not break the sequence.
- Someone who truly cannot fast because of illness or old age feeds 60 poor people two full meals each, or gives each one the amount of Sadaqat al-Fitr.
Only qada, with no kaffarah, is needed when the fast breaks in other ways: water going down the throat by mistake while rinsing the mouth, eating after dawn thinking it was still night, deliberately vomiting a mouthful, or swallowing something that is not food or medicine.
Sincere repentance is needed as well, because breaking a fast of Ramadan without excuse is a major sin.
3Evidence and sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Fasting
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Fasting
- Bahar-e-Shariat, chapter on qada and kaffarah
Arabic texts, translations and how the ruling was derived
هل تجد رقبة تعتقها؟ قال: لا. قال: فهل تستطيع أن تصوم شهرين متتابعين؟ قال: لا. قال: فهل تجد إطعام ستين مسكينا؟
Meaning: "Can you find a slave to free?" He said no. "Can you fast two months in a row?" He said no. "Can you feed sixty poor people?"
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ saying he had been with his wife during a day of Ramadan, and was told this order of kaffarah. The Hanafi scholars apply the same kaffarah to deliberate eating and drinking, since all three destroy the fast in the same way.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَرَسُوْلُهُ أَعْلَمُ صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ