Ask Dr. Magda

Q : What are the types and levels of fasting?
A : First: Obligatory fasting: (fasting at Ramadan – fasting for expiation –
fasting to fulfill a vow)
Second: Voluntary fasting:

• Absolutely voluntary fasting, which has no definite time.
  
• Timed voluntary fasting, which includes the fasting of the 10th of Muharram, the day of `Arafah, three days (the 13th, 14th, and 15th) of every lunar month, six days of Shawwal, Mondays and Thursdays, and the fasting of the first eight days of Dull-Hijjah that precede the day of `Arafah.
  Third: The forbidden fasting (reprehensible, according to the Hanafi school) that includes the following:
  
• Voluntary fasting of a wife without her husband's permission; the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "A woman is not to fast while her husband is present, except with his permission"3
  
• Fasting the Day of Doubt (the 30th of Sha`ban).
  1 -Reported by Ahmad and Al-Hakim
  2 -Reported by Muslim.
  3 -Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
  
• Fasting the first day of the two Bairams and fasting the days of Tashriq (three days following the Sacrificial Bairam).
  
• Fasting of the woman during the period of menses or postpartum period.
  
• Fasting during the second half of Sha`ban (according to the Shafi'i school).
  
• Fasting of the one whose life may be exposed to risk due to fasting. Fourth: The reprehensible fasting:
  
• Singling out Friday for fasting. It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Do not single out the night (preceding) Friday for prayer and do not single out Friday for fasting, but only when anyone among you is
  accustomed to fast (on dates), which coincides with this day (i.e. Friday)."1
  
• Singling out Saturday for fasting. It was narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Do not fast on Saturday, except what has been made obligatory on you; and if one of you can get nothing but a grape skin or a piece of wood from a tree, he should chew it."2
  
• Singling out the 10th of Shawwal for fasting (slightly reprehensible).
  
• Perpetual fasting; since the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "There is no [reward for] fasting for the one who perpetually fasts."3
  
• Fasting during travel.
  
• Voluntary fasting is reprehensible when one has missing days (from an obligatory fasting) that should be made up for.
  
• Fasting of the guest without the permission of his host.
  Levels of fasting:
  
• Fasting of `Umum 'i.e. the ordinary people') in which one abstains from eating, drinking, and having sex until the time of breakfast.
  
• Fasting (of Khusus 'i.e. the practicing Muslims') in which one abstains from all Islamically unlawful practices (e.g. backbiting and calumny) besides abstention from eating, drinking, and having sex.
  
• Fasting (of Khusus Al-Khusus 'i.e. highly pious Muslims') in which one abstains not only from eating, drinking, having sex, backbiting and calumny, but also from even lawful acts that may distract one from the worship of Allah.
  1 - Reported by Muslim.
  2 - Reported by Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.
  3 - Reported by Muslim.

Q : What are the virtues of Ramadan?
A : The Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever fasts Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's Rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven."1 He also said, "He who performs any recommended act during Ramadan will attain the reward of an obligatory act; and he who performs an obligatory act of devotion will be rewarded seventy times
more than in any other month. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Paradise. It is the month of rewards in which a believer's provision increases. He who provides food for a person to break his fast, his sins will be forgiven, and he will be saved from the Hellfire, and he will receive a reward similar to that of the one for whom he provided food, without diminishing anything from the reward of the one he has fed. It is a month whose beginning is mercy, middle is forgiveness, and end is salvation from Fire."2

The fresh Siwak should not be used since its liquid would mix with the saliva, and then invalidate the fast.