http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5§ion=0&article=71700&d=15&m=10&y=2005
Friday, 14, October, 2005 (11, Ramadhan, 1426)
Fasting, Illness and Old Age
Edited by Adil Salahi
Q. I have a family member who has a chronic disease that requires him to
take medication several times a day without fail, in order to keep his
condition under control. I watched this man really stressed out last Ramadan
because of fasting. He is 66 years old, but he refuses to miss fasting. Should
he really fast in this condition?
(Name and address withheld)
A. Islam never requires its followers to undertake anything that causes
them too much trouble. Fasting is difficult for normal, healthy human beings,
even when they are in the prime of life. This is acknowledged in a sacred, or
qudsi, Hadith in which God promises rich reward for fasting. He describes
fasting as man "going without his food, drink and pleasure for My sake."
But God does not want us unduly stressed out in order to fast. Hence, He
has allowed us a number of concessions to cater to different conditions where
fasting becomes particularly or exceedingly difficult. He says: "Whoever is ill
or on a journey may fast a similar number of days." (2: 185)
This applies to any condition which people describe as illness or travel.
It does not require the illness to be too severe, or the travel to be too
arduous. Whatever is legitimately described as illness or travel counts as a
good reason for availing oneself of this concession. Hence, the man in this
case may use this concession, either to take his medicines at proper intervals
or to keep his condition under control. The fact that it is a chronic complaint
does not affect his entitlement in the least. On the contrary, it may make it
more desirable that he should not fast in order not to let his condition
deteriorate.
The question arises here: Since this person is an old man, and his
condition is chronic, he could be suffering this illness for the rest of his
life. What is the solution in this case? This is very simple. When a person
suffers from a chronic disease that makes it difficult for him to fast, and he
is unlikely to recover for a long time, he does not fast. He compensate for
this by feeding a poor person two meals for each day of Ramadan. If he does
more, i.e. feeding more than one person, he receives more reward. But if he
keeps to the obligatory compensation, he receives his reward with those who
fast in Ramadan. This applies regardless of the age of the person concerned.
Having said this, I may add that elderly people may find it difficult to
fast because they are frail, even though they have no specific illness. Old age
itself counts as an illness in this case. When an elderly person finds fasting
too strenuous to bear, he or she should not fast, but should compensate by
feeding poor people. The two meals should be of the average type he and his
family normally have. Thus, if the elderly person concerned is of limited
means, the meals should be of his own average. If he is affluent, the meals
given to the poor person should again be of the average type his family
normally have.
Pregnancy, Nursing and Fasting
Q. I could not fast during the last two years because I was pregnant
first and then I was breast-feeding my child. On doctors' advice, I felt that I
should not fast. How should I compensate for non-fasting?
(Name withheld)
A. Women often find themselves in the situation where they are pregnant
one year and breast-feeding the next year. If this carries on for a few years
during the reproductive period in a woman's life, it is likely she will not be
able to fast for several years. If she is required to make up for all this in
fasting, she will find herself with a very heavy load of compensation, that she
may not be able to manage. Since Islam is both practical and easy to implement,
God has allowed women in such a situation to resort to the other method of
compensation, which is to feed a poor person two meals for each day of
nonfasting. This means that the lady reader should make this sort of
compensation, feeding a poor person for sixty days, or sixty poor persons for
one day, or any combination of the two, provided always that for each day, she
gives one poor person two meals of the average type her family gets in normal
time.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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