Question:
I heard a Friday sermon from a mosque preacher during the second Friday of Ramadan, in which he permitted a laborer to break his fast if his work made him weak and exhausted, and he had no other means of livelihood. According to the preacher, such a laborer should feed a needy person for each missed fast, and he estimated the cost of this at 15 dirhams per day. Is there any evidence for this ruling from the Qur'an and Sunnah?
Answer:
Simply being a laborer or a worker is not a valid excuse for breaking the fast in Ramadan. However, if the laborer faces extreme hardship that forces him to break his fast, he may do so only to the extent necessary to alleviate the difficulty. However, he must refrain from eating and drinking for the rest of the day until sunset and then break his fast with others at iftar time.
After Ramadan, he is obligated to make up for the missed fasts. The ruling you mentioned, which allows a laborer to simply feed a needy person instead of fasting, is incorrect and has no basis in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
(Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Ifta - اللجنۃ الدائمۃ)
