If Taking Medication Causes Extreme Thirst, Can Fidyah Be Given?

Darulifta Ahlesunnat

(Dawateislami)

Question

   What do the noble scholars and jurists of Islamic law say about the following: I have been suffering from mental health conditions for 17 years. I don’t fast because I have to drink a lot of water with the medication I take. I can’t spend even a minute without water, whether winter or summer. There is no other solution to this except for taking medication. Therefore, I give the Fidyah for my fasts. Is this permissible? If not, please give Shari’ah guidance.

بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ

   In the inquired situation, if you genuinely can’t survive without water, and taking the medication causes such thirst that in case of not drinking water, there is great likelihood that the thirst will either take your life, cause severe damage, or unbearable pain, then you are allowed to leave the fast for the time being. Even then, you will still be liable for making up the fast. You will not become free from the responsibility just by paying the Fidyah. Therefore, you should wait for the illness to be cured. If this illness gets cured or lessens, making it possible to survive without the medication, you must make up for all the missed fasts. However, if death draws near in this state, you should leave a will for the Fidyah to be paid. In summary, the ruling of Fidyah currently doesn’t apply to you because the ruling of paying Fidyah of fasts is for a Shaykh Fani, not an ill person.

   Shaykh Fani is the one who has become so weak due to old age that he is incapable of fasting, neither in the winter nor summer, not consecutively nor intermittently, nor does he expect to gain the capability to fast ever again. Such an elderly person can pay Fidyah instead of fasting.

   It should remain clear that mere doubt about not being able to survive without water and being greatly harmed because of thirst isn’t sufficient. Instead, one must have Zann-e-Ghalib (strong presumption) of this. Zann-e-Ghalib is attained in 3 ways. Either through clear indication, previous personal experience, or consultation with such a professional doctor upon whom you can rely.

   In regard to skipping fast because of thirst, it is stated in Al-Fatawa Al- ‘Alamgiri:

   الأعذار التي تبيح الإفطار۔۔۔منھاالعطش والجوع كذلك إذا خيف منهما الهلاك أو نقصان العقل

(Al-Fatawa Al- ‘Alamgiri, Vol. 1, Book of Fasting, p. 206,207, Publ. Dar Al-Kutub Al- ‘Ilmiyah, Beirut)

   It is mentioned in Fatawa Razawiyyah:

   اگر واقعی (کوئی) کسی ایسے مرض میں مبتلاہے، جسے روزہ سے ضرر پہنچتا ہے ،تو تاحصولِ صحت اُسے روزہ قضا کرنے کی اجازت ہے، اُس کے بدلے اگر مسکین کو کھا ناد ے، تو مستحب ہے، ثواب ہے، جبکہ اُسے روزہ کا بدلہ نہ سمجھے اور سچے دل سے نیت رکھے کہ جب صحت پائے گا، جتنے روزے قضا ہُوئے ہیں ادا کرے گا۔

   Translation: If one is genuinely afflicted with an illness that makes fasting harmful for him, they are allowed to skip the fast until they recover. If he feeds the destitute instead, it is Mustahab and rewarding, provided that he doesn’t consider it a replacement for fasting and has the firm intention to make up all the missed fasts once he recovers. (Fatawa Razawiyyah, Vol. 10, p. 520, Publ. Raza Foundation, Lahore)

   Sadr al-Shari’ah, Mufti Muhammad Amjad Ali A’zami عليه الرحمة writes in Bahar-e-Shari’at:

   مریض کو مرض بڑھ جانے یا دیر میں اچھا ہونےیا تندرست کو بیمار ہو جانے کا گمان غالب ہو، تو ان سب کو اجازت ہے کہ اس دن روزہ نہ رکھیں۔۔۔ ان صورتوں میں غالب گمان کی قید ہے، محض وہم ناکافی ہے۔ غالب گمان کی تین صورتیں ہیں: (1) اس کی ظاہر نشانی پائی جاتی ہے یا (2) اس شخص کا ذاتی تجربہ ہے یا (3) کسی مسلمان طبیب حاذق مستور یعنی غیر فاسق نے اُس کی خبر دی ہو۔

   Translation: The ill person who has the dominant presumption that their illness will worsen, recovery will be delayed, or the healthy person who fears that he will fall sick, all are permitted to skip the fast for that day… These are conditioned with dominant presumption. Mere doubt isn’t sufficient. Dominant presumptions are attained in these 3 situations: (1) There are clear indications, (2) The person has prior experience, or (3) Any professional, Muslim, non-Fasiq doctor has informed about this. (Bahar-e-Shari’at, Vol. 1, Sect. 5, p. 1003, Publ. Maktaba-Tul-Madinah, Karachi)

   The ruling of Fidyah isn’t for the ill. The ill person must wait for his illness to pass, as stated by my master, A’la Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رحمة الله تعالى عليه in Fatawa Razawiyyah:  

   جس جوان یا بوڑھے کو کسی بیماری کے سبب ایسا ضعف ہو کہ روزہ نہیں رکھ سکتے، انہیں بھی کفارہ دینے کی اجازت نہیں، بلکہ بیماری جانے کا انتظار کریں، اگر قبلِ شفا موت آجائے، تو اس وقت کفارہ کی وصیت کر دیں، غرض یہ ہے کہ کفارہ اس وقت ہے کہ روزہ نہ گرمی میں رکھ سکیں نہ جاڑے میں، نہ لگاتار نہ متفرق اور جس عذر کے سبب طاقت نہ ہو اس عذر کے جانے کی امید نہ ہو، جیسے وہ بوڑھا کہ بڑھاپے نے اُسے ایسا ضعیف کردیا کہ روزے متفرق کر کے جاڑے میں بھی نہیں رکھ سکتا، تو بڑھاپا تو جانے کی چیز نہیں، ایسے شخص کو کفارہ کا حکم ہے۔

   Translation: The young or elderly who became so weak due to an illness that they are unable to fast are not allowed to pay the Kaffarah. Instead, they must wait for recovery. If they pass away before recovering, they should leave a will for Kaffarah. The point is that Kaffarah can only be given if one cannot fast during the summer or winter, neither consecutively nor intermittently, and there is no hope of recovery from that illness by which he became weak. For example, the elderly person who cannot fast even intermittently during the winter is weakened by old age. Since old age is not something that can be recovered from, such a person must pay Kaffarah. (Fatawa Razawiyyah, Vol. 10, p. 547, Publ. Raza Foundation, Lahore)

وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَرَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم

(Allah Almighty knows best and His Messenger صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم knows best.)

Answered By: Mufti Muhammad Qasim Attari

Ref No: FAM-474

Date: 4^th Muharram Al-Haraam 1446 AH/ 11^th July 2024