Q208 :I understand that only illness and travel
exempt a person from fasting in Ramadhan. A question has been raised by
a factory worker who is working in the kiln (furnace) area of a cement
factory where the inside temperature is extremely high. He must drink
water frequently while he is on the job. Otherwise, the consequences to
his health may be very serious. What relief is he eligible for, as a
special case, in the light of the Hadith which tells us that no
netpensation is acceptable for not fasting?
A208 : What you have mentioned about the
netpensation for not fasting in Ramadhan is correct. The Prophet says
that a person who deliberately does not fast on one day in Ramadhan
cannot netpensate for his deliberate disobedience to Allah even if he
would fast for the rest of his life. This is due to the fact that the
omission was deliberate. As such, it constitutes defiance and a
challenge to Allah. The only two reasons which exempt any particular
person from fasting in Ramadhan are sickness and travel. A traveler may
choose not to fast in Ramadhan while he is on his journey, and an ill
person need not fast. In both cases, however, a netpensation is
required in the form of fasting a similar number of days to the ones a
person did not fast. The netpensation is made at any time during the
following year, after the traveler has returned and the sick person has
recovered. When a person fasts in netpensation, he is not required to
fast on consecutive days. He may fast one or two days at a time. The
total number must be equivalent to the days he did not fast in
Ramadhan. The case of people who work in tough condition is frequently
raised. What we have to understand is that Allah does not want to
afflict us. Nor is it pleasing to Him that we should suffer enormous
hardship. Scholars have said that in tough conditions a person may be
exempted from fasting, with a netpensation required on the same lines
as that for the sick person or traveler, if he can manage that. If he
has to work every single day of the year, in the same tough conditions,
the netpensation may be given in the form of feeding a poor person two
meals for each day of not fasting. The important point in this case
is, therefore, to define what constitutes “tough conditions.” What we
are speaking of here is not that the work is physically difficult,
because many people can endure fasting in such conditions. If we were
to open the door very wide in this area, then every single person goes
through some difficult days at work. Is he then allowed not to fast?
The answer is decidedly ‘No.’ We are speaking of physical conditions
which make fasting pretty impossible. The case you have mentioned most
probably qualifies as an example. Nevertheless, the relief must be
treated on an individual basis. In the same sort of conditions, two
persons may have different degrees of tolerance. One may be able to
fast and the other may not be able. Hence, each case must be treated on
its own. A person who is working in conditions which may qualify as
tough should do the following. He starts, on the first day of Ramadhan
fasting. When he reaches a point when he no longer can tolerate the
conditions which he is in, he ends his fast. But if he manages to go
through the first day fasting till sunset, then he should nete the
following day fasting. If he manages to fast three days with tolerable
difficulty, then he should continue and fast the whole month. If
fasting, however, has a clear adverse effects on him, he must end his
fast and netpensate by fasting at a later time. If he takes one or two
days at a time off work, he fasts on these days. As I say, if
netpensation is to be made, then it must be in the form of fasting a
similar number of days, whenever that is possible. If again fasting is
not possible, then netpensation can take the form of feeding a poor
person. A person in such a situation may also think of taking his
annual leave in Ramadhan. If this is practical, then it provides him
with a chance of fulfilling Allah’s orders in a relaxed way. Perhaps I
should add a word that in Muslim country, a case like the one you have
mentioned should be treated as a case for the factory and its workers.
The labor force should discuss the conditions of work with the
management before the approach of Ramadhan. Options may be considered,
such as doing the work at night only, or reducing work hours so as to
allow people to fast, or closing the factory altogether in Ramadhan. If
any of these options is practical, it should be put into effect. When
the management helps the work force to fulfill their religious duties,
the benefit is mutual. An Islamic government will look into such a
matter favorably. No one in an Islamic society should hesitate in
providing a good and practicable solution for such a problem. Having
said that, I realize that fasting is an individual duty and every
person should deal with it according to his own situation. A person
whose work makes it absolutely necessary for him to have a frequent
intake of water, because of the immense heat at the place of work,
cannot endure fasting for 15 or 16 hours each day, especially if he
spends six or seven hours in such a place. I have outlined the solution
at the individual level, but a solution at the level of the factory as
a whole may be quite possible. It should not be overlooked.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )