What is your view on the fatwa about fasting during the coronavirus pandemic?

Question

Dear Professor, could you please explain this matter? I found it very difficult to understand when I read it. The rites of Hajj have been suspended, visits to the Imams (peace be upon them) and mosques have been closed, and now even the obligatory acts of worship are being affected. Of course, anyone who is ill and for whom fasting would be harmful may break the fast. But what if we think that fasting might increase the likelihood of contracting coronavirus? Does that mean fasting is not obligatory?

Coronavirus is a virus that causes symptoms once it enters the body. Why, then, would fasting make someone more likely to contract it? Perhaps they mean that the immune system becomes weaker? I’m not sure exactly how accurate this claim is. I also tried visiting the address given below the post, but it wouldn’t open. Please share your opinion.

[Forwarded from Moharram Rahmani]

Ayatollah Sanei: “If fasting increases the likelihood of contracting coronavirus, fasting is not obligatory.”

“Regardless of whether doctors or the Ministry of Health have determined that fasting this year could worsen coronavirus or increase the likelihood of contracting it, ‘if a person has reasonable grounds to believe that fasting will worsen an illness or increase the likelihood of becoming ill, fasting is not obligatory for them. In other words, the possibility or fear of harm is sufficient reason not to fast.’ / Shafaqna”

Accepted Answer

The fatwas issued by the person in question have no standing. Several years ago, the Society of Seminary Teachers issued a statement declaring him unqualified to serve as a religious authority, in view of his innovations and his unusual fatwas, which run counter to the authoritative texts.

Satanic ploys to encourage people to break their fast have begun. One must free one’s reason from satanic influence and insinuations.

We know that fasting is among the means of maintaining the body’s health and well-being: (صوموا تصحوا)

A healthy person’s mere supposition that they might fall ill has no basis.

The only grounds for permission are for a sick person whose fasting would cause harm. The person knows their own condition and can determine when they should break the fast.

Take note: permission to break the fast cannot be granted on the basis of a superficial appeal to certain verses and reports.

For example, the following verse may be cited in the case of a sick person who is aware of their own condition and better able than others to determine when they are obliged to break the fast. But it cannot be cited in the case of people who are not ill but fear they might become ill.

Al-Qiyāma, 75:14: بل الإنسان على‏ نفسه بصیره

Rather, a person is fully aware of their own condition.

Care must be taken to fulfil one’s religious obligations.

When deciding whether to break the fast, the opinion of a religiously observant physician (not just any physician) and the most learned jurist takes precedence.

What is your view on the fatwa about fasting during the coronavirus pandemic?

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

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