Question

My mother has Anaemia and she has very low levels of vitamin and iron and she is anaemic. She finds it hard to keep her fasts in Ramadan.
What is the fatwa regarding whether she needs to fast in Ramadan or not ?

Answer

In order to give an accurate ruling for your mother we would need to know more detail such as exactly how fasting effects her. As a general rule if fasting would result in her becoming so weak that she is not able to carry out her basic daily chores and to some degree renders her bed bound then she will be excused from fasting. In such a case if she is able to fast during the winter months where the fasts are much shorter then she will be required do so. If she is not even able to do this then she will pay the amount of sadqat al-fitr in place of each fast missed. This is commonly known as giving fidyah.

If fasting will not render her weak to this extent, rather, it will just cause her some difficulty or weakness then the first step is to try and manage this by incorporating rests within the day, arranging for someone else to assist with certain chores, managing medication outside of fasting times etc. If by doing this she is able to fast then that should be the first option. If this is not possible then the second option to explore is whether she would be able to fast with breaks after a day or two. For example, keep two fasts and if this makes her extremely weak then not fast on the third day. If at any time during a fast she finds it extremely difficult to continue and she fears that her health will deteriorate significantly if she does not eat, then she may break the fast and make up for that fast at a later date. There will be no kaffara due for breaking that fast.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel