Persons who may not fast

The injunction to fast is laid down only for those who witness the coming of the month, man shahida min-kum alshahra. The verb shahida is from the infinitive shahada, which means the bearing of witness; so the injunction to fast is laid upon those only who witness the coming of the month. Evidently all people who live in places where the division into twelve months does not exist, are excluded from the purview of the injunction. Fasting is not compulsory in their case.

People who are exempted are specially mentioned either in the Holy Qur’ān or in the Ḥadīth. The Holy Qur’ān mentions the sick and those on journey in the following words: “But whoever among you is sick or on a journey, (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days. And those who find it extremely hard6 may effect redemption by feeding a poor man” (2:184). This is not an absolute exemption for the sick man and the traveller; they are required to fast afterwards, when the sickness has gone or when the journey ends, but there may be cases of protracted illness or constant journeying, and such people are allowed to effect a redemption by feeding a poor man for every fast missed. Ḥadīth makes a further extension and gives relaxation to certain classes of people who, on account of some physical disability, are not able to fast. It is related of Anas that he used to feed a poor man when he grew too old to fast (Bu. 65, sūrah 2, ch. 25), and Ibn ‘Abbās is reported to have held that the words “those who find it hard to do so may effect a redemption” relate to the old man and old woman and the pregnant woman and the woman that suckles a child, and that all of them are allowed to break the fast,—the latter two, only if they fear for the child—and feed a poor man instead (AD. 14 :3). This view was also held by Ḥasan and Ibrāhīm (Bu. 65, sūrah 2, ch. 25). It will be seen that the underlying idea is that a burden should not be placed on anyone, which he is unable to bear. The case of old people who have become enfeebled by age is very clear while in the case of pregnant and nursing women, the permission to effect a redemption is due to the fact that fasting may cause harm to the unborn baby, or the baby that is being nursed, as well as to the woman herself; and as she is likely to remain in this condition for a