Fatwa ID: 06352

Answered by: Alimah Zakiratul Hoque

Question:

A psychiatrist doctor works with critical patients in the hospital and fasting can affect making decisions regarding patients who are in life-and-death situations. So in this case can he break his fast or miss it and make up for it after Ramadan?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

If he genuinely believes that fasting will impair his judgement to the extent that it would negatively affect his patient’s health, he should not fast, and he should make up for the fasts later because harm should be avoided as much as possible (Qawaaid Fiqhiyyah, Pg 31). He should make this decision daily (to avoid missing fasts when he can fast) and fast on the days when it is possible to fast (e.g., on days off).

الضرر يدفع بقدر الإمكان

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Alimah Zakiratul Hoque

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham