Fasting: Comparative Rules of Sawm

The comparative fiqh of fasting in Bidayat al-Mujtahid illustrates how differences in hadith evaluation and linguistic interpretation produce different rules even for a practice as universally observed as Ramadan. Ibn Rushd's analysis covers the major points of scholarly disagreement with his characteristic balance of textual citation and methodological transparency.

The establishment of Ramadan's start is itself a matter of disagreement that Ibn Rushd addresses. All schools agree that Ramadan begins with the sighting of the crescent moon or the completion of thirty days of Sha'ban if the moon is not seen. The disagreement concerns the geographic scope of a valid sighting: does a moon sighting in one locality bind all Muslims globally? The majority position — accepted by all four schools in classical fiqh — is that sightings are regionally specific, and a community must sight the moon locally or receive reliable news of a nearby sighting. The astronomical calculation of the moon's position, used by some contemporary scholars to determine the start of Ramadan, was not the classical position and remains controversial.

On the intention for each day's fast: the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools require a fresh intention each night before Fajr for each day of obligatory fasting, based on the hadith: 'Whoever does not make the intention to fast before dawn has no fast' (Abu Dawud). The Maliki school agrees for obligatory fasting but allows one intention to carry through a sequence of days. The Hanafi school permits making the intention at any point before midday for an obligatory fast, based on a more flexible reading of the hadith. Ibn Rushd identifies the root as a disagreement over the temporal scope of the hadith's language.

On what breaks the fast: all schools agree that deliberate eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse break the fast. The disagreements arise over indirect causes. The Shafi'i school holds that any substance reaching the stomach through any body opening breaks the fast. The Hanafi school is more restrictive about unconventional routes of ingestion. On deliberate vomiting: the Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Maliki schools hold that deliberate vomiting of a mouthful or more breaks the fast; the Hanafi school holds it does not break the fast regardless, based on a different evaluation of the relevant hadith.

The kaffarah for deliberately breaking the Ramadan fast through sexual intercourse is agreed upon as one of three expiations: freeing a slave, fasting sixty consecutive days, or feeding sixty poor people. The disagreement is whether the order of these options is fixed (obligatory hierarchy) or whether the person may choose any. The Maliki school holds the hierarchy is fixed; the person must free a slave first if able. The other three schools agree with this generally. A further disagreement concerns whether the kaffarah applies to other deliberate violations (eating and drinking): the Maliki school extends it to all deliberate violations; the other schools restrict it to sexual intercourse.

For voluntary fasting: all schools agree on the virtue of fasting Mondays and Thursdays, the day of Arafah, Ashura, and the six days of Shawwal after Ramadan. The Maliki school shows some caution about widely publicizing the six days of Shawwal lest people think they are obligatory, though it does not prohibit them. All schools agree that fasting on the two Eids is forbidden and fasting on the days of Tashriq is generally prohibited for non-pilgrims.

Ibn Rushd's comparative chapter on fasting is a model of how to navigate scholarly disagreement — acknowledging the validity of different positions while offering the reader the tools to evaluate the evidence themselves.