Friday 30 June 2017

Does the person who is unable to fast because of a long-term illness enter from this gate?

A translation of this fatwa from Naseem ash-Sham

http://www.startimes.com/f.aspx?t=34357121

Question: 
 
Assalām ʿalaykum wa Raḥmatullāhī wa Barakātuh,

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, says {There is a gate in Paradise called ar-Rayyān from which the people who fast enter on the Day of Standing. No one else shall enter from it. It will be said, ‘Where are the people who fast?’ They will thus stand and when they have entered it will be closed.} [Agreed upon] Does the person who is unable to fast because of a long-term illness enter from this gate? May Allah reward you with goodness.

Answer: (Imam Muḥammad Tawfīq Ramaḍān) 
 
The person who is unable to fast, who wishes he were able to do so, and he pays the fidyah and there is agony in his heart because of his incapacity, I expect that he is better than some people who do fast, and the believer’s intention is better than his action.