What Can I Do During Ramadan If I Am Sick?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question
I have been diagnosed with a medical condition called IC. It results in excruciating pain in the bladder and frequent urination. The condition requires me to sip water all day.
What are the related rulings for this? Also, can I pay fidya?
Answer
I pray that this message finds you well, insha’Allah. May Allah (Most High) bless you with a complete cure.
Condition
If (a) the pain is recurring and unbearable without daytime medication, (b) drinking water will act as an effective form of such medication, and (c) the physician has approved of this and affirmed that avoiding medication will pose undue hardship and distress, then you can leave the fast now and make it up at a later date.
As such, you can eat and drink to maintain your health, as normal. Remember that the worship of Ramadan is to fast for those who can and to abstain for those who have a genuine excuse to do otherwise because nobody has a right to harm themselves.
Allah (Most High) says,
“So any one of you who is present that month should fast, and anyone who is ill or on a journey should make up for the lost days by fasting on other days later. God wants ease for you, not hardship.” [Quran, 2:185]
Note that there are no expiatory payments (fidya) to make until the condition is both chronic and will last until death. [‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]
For advice on how to have a productive Ramadan without fasting, please see:
And please also see: Brief Overview of Expiatory Payments (fidya)
And Allah Most High alone knows best.
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorized the entire Quran in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan, and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.
