Is It Permissible to Eat After the Adhan of Fajr If One Oversleeps? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Jamir Meah

Question: Assalamu alaykum

If one wakes up just 5 mins after the fajr call to prayer but the sky is still dark, is it permissible to carry on eating till sunlight? Will that fast be valid?

Answer: Wa’alaykum assalam. Jazakum Allah khayr for your question.

The opinion of the Shafi’i madhab is that the time of suhur ends when Fajr time sets in, regardless if it is dark outside or not. I do not know of any opinion in our school, nor any opinion in any other madhab, that states that one is permitted to eat after Fajr time has definitely entered, even if they overslept. The same ruling can be found according to the Hanafi school here, and the Malik school here.

The Missed Day

Consequently, it would also be obligatory for such a person to abstain (Imsak) from all the things a fasting person must abstain from that day due to the sacredness of the fasting hours. After Ramadan, the person would have to make up that day as well as pay an expiation (fidia).

Expiation (Fidia)

Fidia consists of one mudd of the main staple food (a dry measure consisting of a medium handful, amounting to approximately 0.51 litres) of the place the person is in. One mudd must be paid for each day missed.

The mudd(s) must be distributed to the poor and the needy. It is permissible to give many mudds to one person, but not one mudd between two or more people.

[Tuhfa al Muhtaj, Iyanat al Talibin]

Warmest salams,
[Shaykh] Jamir Meah

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. In 2007, he traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years studying the Islamic sciences on a one-to-one basis under the foremost scholars of the Ribaat, Tarim, with a main specialization and focus on Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies in a range of Islamic sciences, as well as teaching. Jamir is a qualified homeopath.