Are school exams a valid excuse for breaking the fast in Ramadan?
School and university exams are not considered a valid excuse for breaking the fast, as most students take their exams while fasting without experiencing extreme hardship. Fasting does not conflict with exam preparation, and a Muslim seeks strength in obedience to Allah for both worldly and spiritual matters.
What is the ruling of Islamic Law on eating or drinking forgetfully while observing the kaffarah fasting?
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
If someone eats or drinks out of forgetfulness while fasting, it is simply that Allah has fed them and given them drink. Their fast is not broken by this; rather, they should continue fasting. This ruling applies whether the fast is an obligatory one (like Ramadan), a make-up fast (Qada), an expiation (Kaffarah), or a voluntary (Nafal) fast. And Allah the Exalted knows best.
What is the amount of food to be given to a needy person for fidyah and kaffarah?
The amount of food to be given to a needy person is 600 grams of wheat or rice.
According to the Hanafi school, it is permissible to give the monetary equivalent instead, and this is the ruling issued by the General Iftaa` Department.
What is the ruling of Islamic Law on leaving the Sunnah prayer of Dhuhr due to fatigue?
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
According to the general rule, a Muslim should strive to maintain the Sunnah prayers before and after the obligatory prayers (al-sunan al-qabliyyah wa al-ba'diyyah). One is permitted to pray them sitting from the outset, but if one leaves them due to severe fatigue, there is no objection to doing so. It is recommended (mustahabb) to make up (qadā') a time-bound supererogatory prayer (nafl mu'aqqat) at any time if it was missed.
Al-Shirbīnī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "If a time-bound supererogatory prayer is missed, it is recommended to make it up according to the more authoritative view (al-azhar), based on the hadith recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: 'Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it should pray it when he remembers it.' This is also supported by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made up the two rak'ahs of Fajr when he and his companions overslept in the valley and missed the dawn prayer until the sun had risen [narrated by Abū Dāwūd with an authentic chain]." And Allah, the Most High, knows best.
