Do Committing Sins Break My Fast? - Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Ramadan FAQ

Do Committing Sins Break My Fast?

I know that in the month of Ramadan, I am not supposed to be committing sins and doing certain things. But what if I do? What if I sell something which is haram? What if I am working in a place which is impermissible? What if I am doing things that are not permissible? Will they break my fast?

What Actually Breaks the Fast

Fasting will break through one of three things: eating, drinking, or ejaculation.

Outside of this, even though there are things that are makruh — reprehensible, sinful — they will not break someone's fast, but rather will diminish the reward of that fast. So we are encouraged in the month of Ramadan, as the devils and the shayateen have been tied up and locked down. All of the shayateen, according to scholars, have been locked up and tied down.

Protecting Yourself During Ramadan

All that we have to deal with is our environment and our nafs. So it's best to avoid any of those sins that we were involved in before the month of Ramadan. Our eyes need to be protected, our ears should be protected.

It would be a disservice to our fast that while we are fasting, we are still providing our soul with these forms of evils and vices, because it will take away from the benefit and the objective of the fast. The objective of the fast is to gain nearness to Allah, not simply to fast as a routine or as a tradition. So it's best to avoid — rather, it is important to avoid — any of those sins.

Mistakes, Necessity, and Intention

Of course, if it happens by mistake, then Allah will hopefully forgive us. But if I am optionally putting myself in those situations, then it will be a source of diminishing the reward of our fast — but it will not break our fast. If I am working in a grocery store, that is by necessity, that is by need, and if I am selling certain things by need or necessity, then that is understood.

We should not be opting into committing a sin in the month of Ramadan. Of course, even outside the month of Ramadan — but specifically in the month of Ramadan, because it is a sacred time, a sacred month, where Allah's mercy is directed towards us, and our a'mal are doubled up and tripled up and are given multiple rewards — so we should protect ourselves.