What Should I Do to Make up Fasts Missed Because of My Addiction to Masturbation?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: As salam alaykum,

I missed about 12-13 fasts last year due to my addiction to masturbation. What should I do to make up these fasts?

Also could you please give me advices on how to get rid of this addiction?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that this message finds you well, insha’Allah.

In general, masturbation is impermissible and sinful.

If it results in ejaculation, it invalidates the fast, yet does not necessitate an expiation (kaffara) because it isn’t deemed to be a complete fulfilment of a person’s sexual desire, namely, that which is attained through actual intercourse. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Ramadan is a time of learning to restrain your bodily desires so you can change and become somebody whom Allah Most High loves. And this requires adhering to the prohibitions against fulfilling your sexual desire, particularly in an impermissible manner.

As such, you should calculate the number of fasts you owe, add a safe ten percent, and then strive to make them up in a gradual manner, consistently, seeking to redress your wrong and save yourself from the Fire thereby.

Ask Allah Most High to forgive you out of His Generosity, and to facilitate good in your life. [see: A Reader on Tawba (Repentance) and: Struggling to Have Children: Ten Key Etiquettes of Du’a]

Please see: Is Expiation Required for Masturbating While Fasting? and: A Reader on Pornography and Masturbation and: How Can I Wean Myself off From Porn?

And Allah alone knows best.

wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani