Short answer
Fasting Ramadan is fard on every Muslim who is adult and sane. Those excused are the sick, travellers, pregnant and breastfeeding women who fear harm, and women during their period or postnatal bleeding: they make the days up later. The very elderly and the permanently ill pay fidya instead. Children and the insane are not obliged.
Fasting is obligatory on a Muslim who is sane and has reached puberty. Its performance is excused for illness, travel, pregnancy or breastfeeding with fear of harm, menstruation and nifas, with qada later; for old age or incurable illness, with fidya. Children are trained from seven and firmly encouraged by ten.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- A pregnant or breastfeeding woman who leaves the fast only out of fear for the baby makes up the days and also pays fidya.
- Hanbali
- Like the Shafi'i school: a pregnant or breastfeeding woman who fears only for the baby makes up the days and also feeds a poor person for each day.
- Maliki
- A breastfeeding woman who fears for the baby makes up the days and pays fidya; a pregnant woman makes up the days only.
Explanation
Allah decreed fasting for the believers and, in the same passage, named who is excused. The rules fall into three groups.
1. Not obliged at all:
- A child who has not reached puberty. Parents train them gently. See children and fasting.
- Someone who has lost their reason through insanity or advanced dementia.
- A non-Muslim. A new Muslim begins from the day they accept Islam.
2. Excused now, make up later (qada):
- The sick, when fasting would harm them or slow recovery. See fasting when sick.
- Travellers on a journey of about 77 km or more. See fasting while travelling.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women who fear harm. See pregnancy and fasting.
- Women during their period or postnatal bleeding: they must not fast, and make up the days. See periods in Ramadan.
- Someone facing serious danger from hunger or thirst, or forced.
3. Excused for good, pay fidya: the very elderly and those with an illness not expected to improve. See what is fidya.
Not excuses on their own: exams, a busy job, sports, mild headaches or feeling hungry. See exams and work. Anyone excused should still respect the month by not eating openly where it would offend. For the overall rules see Ramadan fasting rules.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:183
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣﴾
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
Fasting Ramadan is an obligation on the believers.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:184
أَيَّامًۭا مَّعْدُودَٰتٍۢ ۚ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍۢ فَعِدَّةٌۭ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۚ وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُۥ فِدْيَةٌۭ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍۢ ۖ فَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًۭا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّهُۥ ۚ وَأَن تَصُومُوا۟ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٨٤﴾
[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.
The sick and the traveller are excused and make up the days.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 715
Graded hasan sahih... وضع عن المسافر الصوم وشطر الصلاة وعن الحامل أو المرضع الصوم ...
"Allah has lifted from the traveller the fast and half the prayer, and from the pregnant or breastfeeding woman the fast."
Travellers and pregnant or breastfeeding women are excused from fasting at the time.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4398
Graded sahih... رفع القلم عن ثلاثة عن النائم حتى يستيقظ ...
"The pen is lifted from three: the sleeper until he wakes, the afflicted until he recovers, and the child until he grows up."
Children and those without reason are not obliged.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what makes not fasting permissible. The excuses of illness, travel, pregnancy, breastfeeding and old age.
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on the excuses for not fasting. The list of excuses and whether each requires qada or fidya.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.