I had intercourse with my wife during the day last Ramadan, and I read in the fatwas that the penalty for that is to fast two consecutive months. I tried to start fasting, but in fact I found that I was falling short in my work and not doing my job properly as a result of feeling exhausted and working for long hours, although I tried to delay the fast until the cold days. I hope that you can advise me what to do.
Praise
be to Allah
Difficulty in
working, in which a person feels that he is not doing his job properly, is
not one of the excuses that makes it permissible not to observe an
obligatory fast and move to the option of feeding the poor, whether it is
fasting during Ramadan, fasting in expiation for having intercourse during
the day in Ramadan, or fasting for any other reason.
The Standing
Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked about a man who works in a bakery and
suffers extreme thirst and exhaustion whilst working. Is it permissible for
him not to fast?
They replied: It
is not permissible for that man not to fast; rather what he must do is
observe the fast. The fact that he is baking during the day in Ramadan is
not an excuse for not fasting. He must work according to what he is able to
do.
End quote from
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah lil-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah wa’l-Iftaa’
(10/238).
We put this
question to our shaykh, ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Naasir al-Barraak and he
replied: Work is not an excuse for not observing an obligatory fast, such as
the Ramadan fast.
Based on that,
you should be patient and seek reward with Allah, for seeking reward with
Him and remembering the reward will reduce the feelings of difficulty.
Moreover these feelings usually arise in the first few days, then you get
used to it. So seek the help of Allah, may He be exalted, and Allah will
make things easy for you.
For more
information, please see the answer to question no. 65803.
And Allah knows
best.
