Does Fainting Invalidate Fasting?
Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Question
Does fainting invalidate fasting?
Answer
In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, his Family, his Companions, and those who follow him.
The fasting of the month of Ramadan has its own jurisprudential rules that must be observed and noted, including the complete observance of the fast during the daytime without interruption. The major pillar of fasting is abstaining from dawn to sunset, as Allah (Most High) says:
“(…) then complete the fast until nightfall.” [Quran, 2:187]
If something occurs during the day that interrupts the required abstention (fasting), the fast is not complete, and making up for it becomes obligatory. Then it must be considered whether there is a sin involved in the interruption due to fainting or not.
Details
If something happens to the fasting person during the day that interrupts their fast, it affects the validity of the fast, whether the interruption is voluntary or involuntary. Let our discussion specifically address fainting, which is a temporary loss of consciousness or awareness. There are many causes of fainting, which may be due to severe fatigue and exhaustion, the heat of the sun, or following strenuous efforts during the day while fasting.
Fainting has two scenarios:
First Scenario
Fainting that lasts the entire day, which, according to the established view in the school of thought, invalidates the fast.
Imam Nawawi stated: “The apparent view is that fainting does not harm if the person regains consciousness even momentarily during the day.” [Nawawi, al-Minhaj]
Ibn Naqib said: “If one’s entire day is consumed by fainting… the fast is invalidated.” [Ibn Naqib, ‘Umdat al-Salik]
Ibn al-Rif‘a said: “And if one faints for the entire day, that is, having intended to fast from the night, his fast is not valid because fasting is about intention and abstention.” [Ibn al-Rif‘a, Kifayat al-Nabih]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami chose the view that the fast of a person who faints and does not intentionally bring about his fainting is not invalidated, even if it lasts the whole day, which is opposed by al-Ramli. [Ba‘Ishn, Bushra al-Karim]
Second Scenario
Fainting for part of the day does not harm the fast, nor does it invalidate it, as explicitly stated in (al-Minhaj) according to the more apparent of the two opinions of the Imam of the School. [Nawawi, Minhaj al-Talibin]
Ba Fadl states: “Fainting and intoxication do not harm as long as one regains consciousness for a moment during the day.” [Ba Fadl, al-Muqaddima al-Hadramiyya]
Shirbini said: “If one intends from the night and then faints, the (Shafi‘i) School’s view is that if he is conscious for part of the day, his fast is valid; otherwise, it is not. This is stipulated in the abridged text in the chapter on fasting. (Similarly stated in Nawawi’s al-Majmu‘).” [Shirbini, al-Iqna‘]
As for the matter of fasting validity, making up the fast is obligatory.
The obligation to make up the fast applies in both cases:
Ghazali said: “As for making up, it is obligatory on everyone who breaks the fast, whether due to apostasy, travel, illness, fainting, or menstruation.” [Ghazali, al-Wasit]
Nawawi says: “Making up is obligatory for the one who faints, whether the fainting spans the entire Ramadan or part of it.” [Nawawi, al-Majmu‘]
It also states: “Where we said: the fast of the one who faints is not valid, whether because the fainting lasts all day or part of it, or because he did not intend at night, he must make up what he missed of Ramadan. Thus, the author definitively states this, and the majority of the companions agree, and it is stipulated.” [Ibid.]
Summary
Based on the aforementioned texts from the jurists of the school, the person who faints must make up the fast, whether the fainting spans the entire day or occurs intermittently, having regained consciousness during the day. This is the relied-upon position, and according to Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, if the fainting covers the whole day and is not induced by an act that brings about fainting, i.e., the fainting is natural without any inducement, then his fast is not invalidated provided he had the intention from the night. However, if he did not intend and faints, whether partially or completely, making up the fast is obligatory.
We ask Allah for complete health and well-being for us, our loved ones, and all Muslims, Amin.
And Allah grants success.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib is a prominent Islamic scholar from Yemen born in Shibam, Hadhramaut, in 1976. He received his degree in Shari‘a from Al-Ahqaf University, a master’s degree from the Islamic University of Beirut, and a PhD in Usul al-Din from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
He studied under great scholars such as Shaykh al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Fadl Ba‘ fadl, Habib Salim al-Shatiri, Habib Ali Mashhur bin Hafeez, and others. He has served as the Director of Publications at Dar al-Fiqh, the former Deputy Director of Cultural Relations at Al-Ahqaf University, a former Assistant for Employee Affairs at Atiyah Iron Company, a researcher at the Sunna Center affiliated with the Dallah al-Baraka Foundation, and a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch.
Currently, he is a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch, teaches traditionally through the Ijaza system at Dar al-Fuqaha in Turkey, supervises the Arabic department at Nur al-Huda International Institute (SeekersGuidance), and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript House in Istanbul.
His works include “The Efforts of Hadhramaut Jurists in Serving the Shafi‘i School,” “Contributions of Hadhramaut Scholars in Spreading Islam and its Sciences in India,” “Hada’iq al-Na‘im in Shafi‘i Fiqh,” in addition to verifying several books in Fiqh, history, the art of biographies, and Asanid (chains of narration).
