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Is It Permissible to Break Fasting Due to Heavy Workload?

09 April, 2023
Q As-salamu `alaykum. This month of Ramadan is going to go as follows for me, physical education in summer school from 8 to 12, work from 2 to 7, which requires me to unload heavy boxes in a hot trailer. After all that I plan on going to the gym after my fast. My question is: in my case, is it okay for me to break my fast early? My friend said a sheikh told him I could do it according to Maghrib time in Morocco. Is this okay? I’m doing a lot of physical work in a day without food or water, which requires energy.

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

In your case, you can try to skip one of these activities till the end of Ramadan. If you cannot, then you are allowed to break the fast and make up for it later.

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In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is an obligatory duty on all healthy adults except those who are sick, elderly or travelling or women in their period or undergoing post-natal period.

The duration of fasting extends from dawn to dusk. So, you cannot break your fast as you choose based on the standard times of Morocco if you are living elsewhere.

Therefore, you should see if you can be excused from some of these highly tedious tasks during the month of Ramadan. If you cannot be granted an exception, and you find it hard to bear the rigors of fasting and abstention from foods and drinks, you may skip the fast and make up for it later.

You ought to know this is only an extreme concession for those who are unable to function while fasting. You also ought to remember that blessings and rewards of Ramadan cannot be replicated during other months.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.