Continuous fasting
Continuous fasting or Ṣawm al-Wiṣāl (Arabic: صَوم الوِصال) refers to fasting for a full day and night (from dawn [fajr] until the pre-dawn [Sahar] of the following day) or for two consecutive days (from dawn [fajr] of the first day until sunset of the second day) without breaking the fast in between.[1] According to the fatwa of Shi'a jurists, continuous fasting is considered among the prohibited types of fasting.[2] The basis for this ruling is derived from verse 187 of Quran 2 regarding the duration of fasting,[3] as well as relevant narrations and the consensus of jurists.[4]
According to the fatwas of some marja’s, if someone unknowingly fasts for two consecutive days, only the fast of the first day will be valid. According to the marja’s, if someone does not break their fast at night but does not intend to continue fasting, it will not be considered continuous fasting.[5]
Sunni hadith commentators such as Mahmud Subki have stated that Sunni scholars hold three views regarding continuous fasting: absolute prohibition, prohibition conditional upon causing unbearable hardship (mashaqqa), and dislike.[6]
According to jurists such as Muhaqqiq Hilli and Shatibi, a Maliki jurist, this type of fasting was permissible for the Prophet (s) and is considered among the special characteristics of the Prophet (s).[7]
The only fast mentioned in the Torah is the Yom Kippur fast, during which Jews fast for 25 hours from sunset to sunset the next day.[8]
The Prophet (s) said: "There is no continuity in fasting." (Continuous fasting is not permissible).[9]
Notes
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 3, p. 662.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 1, p. 283.
- ↑ Fāḍil Lankarāni, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 337.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 17, p. 126.
- ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 304.
- ↑ Subkī, al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, vol. 8, p. 398; Bassām, Taysīr al-ʿallām, vol. 1, p. 337.
- ↑ See: Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, vol. 2, p. 215; Shāṭibī, al-Iʿtiṣām, vol. 1, p. 333.
- ↑ Ābāyī, Taʿnīyat yā rūza dar āyīn-i Yahūd, Tehran Jewish Committee Website.
- ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 7, p. 521.
References
- Ābāyī, Ārash. Taʿnīyat yā rūza dar āyīn-i Yahūd. Tehran Jewish Committee Website. Accessed: 2025/03/18.
- Bassām, ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Taysīr al-ʿallām sharḥ ʿumdat al-aḥkām. Egypt: Maktabat al-Tābiʿīn, 1426 AH.
- Fāḍil Lankarāni, Muḥammad. Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa fī sharḥ Taḥrīr al-waṣīla. Qom: Markaz-i Fiqh-i al-aʾimma al-Aṭhār, 1426 AH.
- Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām fī masāʾil al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAlī Baqqāl. Second edition. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Ismāʿīlīyān, 1408 AH.
- Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Beirut: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1413 AH.
- Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Najaf: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1390 AH.
- Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1362 Sh.
- Shāṭibī, Ibrāhīm b. Mūsa. Al-Iʿtiṣām. Saudi Arabia: Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, 1429 AH.
- Subkī, Maḥmūd Muḥammad Khaṭṭāb. Al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ aw irshād al-khalq ilā dīn al-ḥaqq. [n.p]. 1397 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Mabsūṭ fī fiqh al-imāmīyya. Tehran: al-Maktaba al-Murtaḍawīyya li Iḥyāʾ al-Āthār al-Jaʿfarīyya, 1387 AH.
- Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1419 AH.