What Should You Do if You Feel Sick During Ramadan? - Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Ramadan FAQ
By Shaykh Abdullah Waheed, Shaykh Mohamed Almasmari, Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | 2026-07-30T16:40:33.754139+00:00 | Topic: Khutbah
What Should You Do if You Feel Sick During Ramadan?
If a person is feeling sick, has a headache, has a fever, stomach ache, body is weak, they feel like they cannot fast — what should they do? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has informed us in the Qur'an when speaking about the command of fasting:
That a person, if they are sick or they are traveling, they have been given the concession that they do not have to fast. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then says that Allah does not want to bring difficulty or make it hard for you.
This Religion Is Not Difficult
This religion is not difficult but rather Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to bring ease. So if a person is sick, they have a headache, they have a very strong fever, their stomach is not cooperating with them, their body is extremely weak because of a fever or because of some type of chills — then they do not have to fast. It's their choice.
They can fast if they wish to, or they can choose to not fast on that day and make it up later on after the month of Ramadan by making it up through one fast. They will not have to fulfill it through a kaffarah or expiation, neither can they fulfill it through a fidya by feeding people. They will have to fulfill it by fasting again if they feel healthy.
When There Is No Hope of Recovery
Yes, if a person is sick and they do not get better — i.e. old age or any specific type of disease — then after Ramadan they will not have to make it up by fasting, but rather they will have to make it up through fidya, which is feeding one person for every single fast that had been missed, based on the fitrana that we give in our community, and that will make up the fast that we have missed.
Summary
So in conclusion, if we're sick, we don't have to fast. But if we get better after the month of Ramadan, we will make it up. And if we do not get better and there is no hope of getting better, then we make it up by giving fidya — i.e. feeding the poor people of our community.