A man whose work required him to work from after the night prayer until dawn on one of the days of Ramadan made the intention to fast. Due to extreme fatigue, he slept after dawn until shortly before the call to the sunset prayer. He performed the noon and mid-afternoon prayers before sunset and broke his fast when the sun set. He seeks to know whether sleeping for that entire period affects the validity of his fast on that day.

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the pillars of Islam, and an obligation decreed by Allah Almighty upon every Muslim who has reached the age of accountability, possesses sound mind, is not traveling, has the physical ability to observe it, and is free from anything that would prevent its performance. Allah Almighty says, “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous” (Quran, 2:183).

Due to the great merit of fasting, one of the most exalted acts of worship, Allah Almighty has reserved for Himself the measure of its reward. Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah Almighty says: Fasting is for Me, and I shall reward the fasting person for it. He abandons his desires, as well as his food and drink for My sake” (Bukhari and Muslim). Moreover, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained that this blessed month is endowed with great virtue, entails great reward, and salvation and deliverance from Hellfire. He therefore encouraged Muslims to make the most of it to attain success and happiness in this world and in the next. In another hadith also narrated by Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “When the month of Ramadan comes, the gates of heaven are opened, the gates of hell are closed, and the devils are chained” (Bukhari and Muslim). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “The five [daily] prayers, from one Friday [prayer] to the next, and from one Ramadan to the next, expiate the sins that are committed between them, provided the major sins are avoided” (Muslim).

Sa’eed Ibn al-Musayab narrated from Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) who said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to us on the last day of Sha’ban and said, ‘O people, a great month has drawn near to you — a blessed month, containing a night that is better than a thousand months. Allah has made fasting in it obligatory and standing in prayer during its nights voluntary. Whoever draws close to Allah [in this month] by a single good deed is like one who performs an obligatory act at other times, and whoever performs an obligatory act in it is like one who performs seventy obligatory acts outside of it. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is paradise. It is the month of compassion, and a month in which provision is increased for the believer. Whoever provides food for a fasting person to break their fast during this month will have their sins forgiven, be delivered from the Hellfire, and receive a reward equal to that of the fasting person, without diminishing that person’s reward in the slightest” (recorded by al-Harith Ibn Abu Usama in his Musnad, Ibn Khuzayma, and al-Bayhaqi; the wording is that of Ibn Khuzayma).

 

Validity of the fast of someone who sleeps through most of the daylight hours in Ramadan

Given the abundant virtues that Ramadan brings, a Muslim must make the most of every moment of this month, day and night; be diligent in observing its acts of worship, whether obligatory or voluntary; and apply themselves with seriousness and dedication. A Muslim should not spend all of their time in sleep or rest, provided they are able to make full use the hours of fasting. However, if a Muslim’s work requires them to work at night and sleep through most of the day, as in this instance, this does not undermine the validity of the fast because sleeping while fasting does not nullify it. The fast of a person who observes the rulings of fasting remains valid as long as the intention to fast was made the previous night. This is the opinion of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali scholars. Some of them even reported consensus that if a person intends to fast but sleeps through the day, waking only briefly, the fast remains valid.

Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas, the Hanafi scholar, notes in his Sharh Mukhtasar Al-Tahawi (2:410), “Whoever makes the intention to fast on a night of Ramadan but falls unconscious before dawn and remains in that state until morning, their fast is considered valid.”

In Minah Al-Jalil (2:130), the Maliki Shaykh Eleish writes, “No makeup fast is required for someone who remains asleep, even if the entire month passes, provided the intention was made on the first night.”

The Shafi’i scholar, Imam al-Nawawi states in Al-Majmu’, “If a person who is already fasting, having made the intention the previous night, sleeps through all the daylight hours, the fast remains valid according to the opinion of scholars … Scholars are unanimous that if such a person wakes up, even if for a brief moment, and then sleeps for the rest of the daylight hours, their fast remains valid.”

Imam Ibn Qudama, the Hanbali scholar, writes in Al-Mughni (3:116), “Sleep does not affect the fast, whether a person sleeps for most of the daylight hours or only part of them.”

 

The ruling

In light of the above, the principle is that a Muslim should be keen to make the most of Ramadan and the blessings, virtue, and immense reward it brings, by diligently observing the acts of worship associated with it — whether obligatory or supererogatory. The validity of a fast is not compromised if the nature of a person’s work requires them to work at night and sleep through most of the day, provided the intention to fast was made during the night. There is no blame upon them, though they must observe the prayers at their prescribed times to the extent possible.

And Allah Almighty knows best.