Fasting, Expiation, and Hajj

The Hanafi obligations of Ramadan fasting are detailed by al-Tahawi with the school's characteristic precision. The fast is obligatory upon every Muslim who is adult, sane, and capable. The intention (niyyah) for each day's fast must be made by the time of true dawn; unlike some other schools, the Hanafi school permits the intention to be made the night before or even in the early hours of the morning up to the Islamic midday (halfway between dawn and sunset) for voluntary fasts, but obligatory Ramadan fasts ideally require the intention before dawn. The fast is broken by anything entering the body cavity through the mouth, nose, or similar passages with the person's awareness and free choice. Al-Tahawi records that inhaling dust or flies unintentionally does not break the fast, as there was no free choice involved.

What distinguishes the Hanafi treatment of fasting from other schools is the detailed classification of infractions into those requiring both expiation (kaffara) and making up the day (qada), those requiring only qada, and those requiring neither but still considered disliked. Breaking the fast deliberately through eating, drinking, or sexual intercourse during Ramadan requires both qada and kaffara. The kaffara in the Hanafi school follows the order: freeing a slave; if unable, fasting sixty consecutive days; if unable, feeding sixty poor persons. Notably, Abu Hanifa did not restrict the order of kaffara to the sequence stated in the hadith, holding that the order is flexible and any of the three methods suffices, a position on which the school later moved toward the majority view requiring sequence.

For Hajj, al-Tahawi presents the Hanafi rulings on the essential obligations. Hajj is obligatory once in a lifetime for every Muslim who is adult, sane, free, and able, with 'ability' encompassing physical health, a secure route, and sufficient provision for the journey and for one's dependents at home. The Hanafi school holds that Hajj must be performed immediately once the conditions are met, unlike the Shafi'i position allowing indefinite delay. The pillars (arkan) of Hajj in Hanafi usage are limited to two: the standing at Arafah and the tawaf al-ziyarah (the major circumambulation). The Hanafi treatment is distinctive in classifying many acts others consider pillars as merely obligatory (wajib), with their omission remediable through a sacrifice (dam) rather than rendering the Hajj void.

Al-Tahawi treats the topic of making up missed fasts with the Hanafi ruling that a person who misses Ramadan fasts due to travel, illness, or any other excuse must make them up, one day for each missed day, before the next Ramadan arrives. Deliberate breaking of a Ramadan fast without a valid excuse is among the gravest sins and requires both kaffara and immediate qada. For a person who dies with outstanding Ramadan fasts, the Hanafi position differs from some other schools: the deceased's heirs are not required to fast on his behalf, though they may give fidyah (feeding a poor person for each missed day) from his estate if he had instructed this. The chapter thus covers both the positive obligations and the remedial mechanisms that characterize the Hanafi school's approach to acts of worship.