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* * *What is Lawful and what Revokes Fasting * FASTING earns Allah's pleasure. Allah said: Every deed by the son of Adam is for him, except the fasting, it is for Me and I will give its reward. Every deed of a believer is rewarded from 10 to 700 times but there is no deed which may equal fasting. It is, therefore, necessary to know rules for the preservation of our fast to earn Allah's great pleasure. The Mother of the Believers Ayesha (may Allah be please with her) said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to be in ritual impurity by the dawn, and then he used to take a bath. The ritual impurity does not invalidate the fasting, provided one takes a bath in the morning. It is also reported by Ayesha, the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to kiss her and embrace her while fasting out of pure love without any passion. *Hanafis and Shafiis said: * ** · One who gets excited and passionate should keep away from kissing. · To take an injection by way of treatment is allowed, no harm is done to his fasting. (As-Shafii) · No harm is done if one swallows saliva. While using Siwak one can swallow saliva. · It may be noted the use of Siwak stops thirst as it makes the glands to produce saliva which controls thirst. · If a woman gets impure from menses or puerperium by the morning, she can continue her fasting. She should take bath and offer prayers. · If water gets into the belly of a fasting person unintentionally then no harm is caused to his fast. · To use Kohl and eye-drops are allowed, even if one feels its taste in the throat, because it does not reach the belly (As-Shafii). · Rinsing of the mouth and sniffing is allowed but it should not be exaggerated as water may go into the belly thus invalidating the fast. · *Ibn Abbas said:* There is no harm in tasting the foodstuff you want to buy. Do not swallow but spit it out. · *Ibn Taymiyya said:* There is no harm in smelling the good smells for a fasting person. · Engaging in sexual intercourse will revoke the fast and one should compensate for his invalidated fasting and expiate. · Expiation is to liberate a slave or fast for 60 days continuously or feed 60 persons. Or he can choose any of the three methods of expiation. · Anyone who intentionally breaks his fast shall have to compensate for the fast and expiate as mentioned above. · If any one drinks or eats forgetting that he was fasting, no harm is done to his fast, and he should complete his fast. · If a fasting person vomits, no harm is done to his fast, but if he vomits intentionally, he should complete his fast but he will have to compensate for that fast. · If any one commits masturbation or deliberately ejects his semen he has to expiate. But if semen comes out while excreting no harm is done to his fast. · If one eats or drinks or copulates believing that the dawn has not begun as yet and the contrary of that appears to him then he has to compensate for his fast and no expiation is due on him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The fasting and the Qur'an will intercede for the Believing person on the Day of Judgment. Fast will say: "O Lord! I prevented him from the food and desire during the day, so accept my intercession for him." The Qur'an will say: "I prevented him from sleep during the night, so accept my intercession for him." Allah will accept both the intercessions. We are required to protect our fast to get Allah's rewards that are so precious on the Day when nothing will help except our good deeds and fasting observed only to earn Allah's pleasure. (Source the Fiqh As-Sunnah, which covers Hanafi and Shafii schools of thought). Compiled from various sources. * Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to p ublish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. * ** *Note that an English translation of the Qur'an is an interpretation of the Qur'an, and does not have the perfect status as the Qur'an in its original Arabic form.*
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