Question
Reference number: 282113 | Fasting | May 28, 2020
Peace Be Upon You. I am 49 years old. I suffer from bold pressure and latent diabetes. Once I fast, I suffer from Tachycardia. I referred to my physician who said (you are the one who can decide whether to fast or not.) Shall I fast despite the serious case I have which leads to those complications?
Answer
Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.
Referring to your question, once fasting causes harm or complications to a Muslim, or if it delays recovery, or threatens their life as a result of complications, or too hard for one to complete a day, a Muslim can break the fast. However, if such symptoms happen systemically whether a person is fasting or not, or if a person can bear the tiredness, they must fast.
The Higher Palestinian Legal Verdict Council published on their homepage the ruling of such a case:
The elderly whose health conditions are retarded daily, or the one who suffers from a chronic disease which will not be cured, can break their fast in the month of Ramadan as long as fasting results in hardship and tiredness. This is what Allah says in His book. “and for those who can fast with difficulty, (e.g. an old man) they have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a Miskin (poor person) (for every day).” Al-Baqarah: 184.
Abdullah Ibn Abbas RRA interprets the aforementioned verse, and he says it adresses the elderly who are not able to fast. Thus, they should feed a poor, a meal equal to what average people have, instead of every day they miss. (Tafseer Al-Khazen: 1/153)