Do I Have to Make Up My Fast If I Possibly Broke It before Sunset?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

One day in Ramadan I saw my friends break their fast and I just broke mine with them without checking the time. My mother decided to wait a bit longer to make sure the sun indeed set.

Must I make up my fast, if I possibly broke my fast before the sunset? If so, must I pay the expiatory charity (kaffara)?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Since you are not sure that you actually broke your fast before the sunset, the assumption is that the sun did set and therefore your fast is valid.

This is based on the principle that ‘deeming the affairs of the Muslims valid whenever possible is necessary (wajib)’ [Ibn Maza, al-Muhit al-Burhani]

That said, your mother did the right thing in making sure that the sun did indeed set and this is what you should adopt moving forward.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.