Question:During Ramadhan, which one is recommended first: offering prayers or having iftar?

Answer:In the name of Allah, it is recommended to offer prayers first. However, if there is someone waiting for him on the table or he feels that he is forced to pray while his self is fighting him for having iftar, only then is iftar preferable. Allah knows best.

Question:I am a Shite woman and my husband is Sunni. The Shite people here in Pakistan start fasting as per the Shia calendar, but my husband and his family do as per the local religious authorities. This makes difference which sometimes reaches to one or more days. What should I do to avoid such situation?

Answer:In the name Allah, my daughter, try to busy yourself at the Iftar time and preserve your fasting. You have to be informed also that you fast when fasting is confirmed as per the Shia. If your husband fasts one day before, you can offer a recommended fasting and you must not stop fasting unless the eid is confirmed for Shia. If you are forced to stop fasting, Allah knows that you are forced and you have to do qadhaa fast. May Allah help you preserve your religion. Allah is the all Guide and Knowing.

Question:A person doubted the rise of dawn and he ate something. Then, he discovered that the dawn rose. Would his fasting be void for that day if: 1.He went out and checked himself? 2.He requested a trusted person to check and depended on the latter’s check?

Answer:In the name of Allah, in the first condition, there is no problem with his fasting, but in the second, he has to do qadhaa fasting. Allah knows best.

Question:I would like to ask about the imsak, which means abstention from the invalidators of fasting in Ramadhan. It is said that we have to do imsak 10 minutes in advance which is the religious legitimate time. What is the benefit of these minutes and what is the benefit of imsak?

Answer:In the name of Allah, be advised, my son, it is very hard to specify the exact fasting time for each place because the earth moves round itself; for every moment there is a new inch from the earth to face the sun. Therefore, the people specializing in making the timetables of Imsak make sure to take extra time for abstention so that the entire province can be covered at one time. They take normally 10 minutes (or more if the province is big) before the real time of imsak so that all the people in the province do imsak before the rise of true dawn. The morning prayer is to be offered after 10 minutes or more if the province is big so that all the people offer it in the time of dawn and not before it. We hope that the reason of the 10 minutes are clear now. No matter what, be cautious of committing the mistake that you are in the east or the west of the province; a matter can make you regret when regret is of no use. Allah knows best.

Question:We live in Omio / Sweden, where this no sign of the black thread or white thread so that we can know the prayers time. Some believers want to perform fasting here, so we need a fatwa in this regard. We also hope to get timetable for the blessed month of Ramadhan like other places in the entire world.

Answer:In the name of Allah, fasting is to be done from the white thread to the black thread regardless of the number of hours. However, the night to be witnessed is characterized by dim darkness in the time of entering the true dawn, which demands the start of refraining from the invalidators of fasting. With this darkness not found in the area of living, during Ramadhan, the fasting person should either move to another place where conditions are normal or to travel and exceed the permitted area and breaks his fasting; then, he performs overdue fasting (qadhaa fast) later, where fasting can be done properly. Allah knows best.

Question:A person who wanted to fast woke up at night and he did not know the religious timings of Ramadhan. Then, he heard the Athan (call of prayers), but he had some doubts that this Athan is at the exact time of dawn rise, for he wanted to have his Suhur (a meal normally eaten before the dawn rises). What is his ruling?

Answer:In the name of Allah, be advised, my son, if you are sure that the caller of the Athan knows the timings and he is exact in his timings, then it is not permissible to eat anything and if you do, you have missed your fast and then you have to perform qadhaa fast and pay atonement (Kaffara). Allah is the All Guide.

Question:I am doing taqleed to your highness. Can I chew a gum while fasting in Ramadhan?

Answer:In the name of Allah, it is permissible if you swallow nothing of the gum or the saliva affected by its falvour (if it has). However, it is better to avoid it. Allah knows best.

Question:Can I use mouth gargling during fasting because of bad breath in the mouth as a result of infection in the throat or the like?

Answer:In the name of Allah, it is permissible if it was as a treatment. However, to preserve your fasting, the medicine should be removed from your mouth through gargling several time with water and nothing is to be swallowed inside, whether medicine or water. Allah knows best.

Question:If the fasting person in the month of Ramadan had fondled his wife during the day and was not sure whether or not ejaculation occurs. However, he did not ejaculate. Does this invalidate his fasting? If it does, does he have to perform qadhaa fast?

Answer:In the name of Allah, if he has in his mind that his nature is to ejaculate in case he foreplay his wife, then it is forbidden to do it and his fasting is rendered void. It is permissible if he is sure that ejaculation does not occur. Allah knows best.

Question:In Ramadan, I always cough which is most often accompanied by throwing out some vomit. Does this vomiting invalidate fasting?

Answer:In the name of Allah, fasting is valid so long as there is no deliberate swallowing to the vomit and the process of vomiting is not done deliberately. Allah knows best.