Everyday questions › Ramadan, fasting and Hajj
Ramadan, fasting and Hajj
Everything that comes up between the moon sighting and Eid: what breaks the fast, who is excused, making up, taraweeh and the last ten nights; and the questions of the Hajj season.
- Do eye drops or an inhaler break my fast?
- I am on daily medication. Should I fast at all?
- Why is Eid on different days in the same city?
Example phrasings, not quotations. Each one runs a search.
Latest answers
34 segments in 18 recordings, newest first
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestHow do Quranists perform Hajj and apply Islam without the fiqh tradition?
The guest says the application of Islam is all in the Quran: his group performs Hajj in months other than the usual days, since the Quran speaks of plural months, and Ramadan is fully detailed; he does not rely on the fatwa tradition.
machine2 min 45 s1:18:06on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDoes the Quran alone say what breaks the fast?
The guest says 2:187 shows that eating, drinking and intercourse break the fast by making them lawful at night; Mufti Abu Layth says the verse does not explicitly forbid them by day, so the Quran-only reader is inferring by reason rather than reporting what God said.
machine4 min 25 s1:42:01on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs the daytime ban on eating and intimacy in Ramadan stated in the Quran or inferred?
The daytime prohibition of eating and intimacy in Ramadan comes from 2:187 by mafhum al-mukhalafa, an adverse inference Mufti Abu Layth accepts but which is not the explicit reading, so some verses need the tradition's explanation; the guest says each reader is rewarded according to his understanding.
machine5 min 35 s1:50:43on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How is Lupe Fiasco finding Ramadan during Covid?
The guest says Ramadan has been easy, though he misses the mosque and tarawih after staying away during Covid to protect older worshippers.
machine1 min 56 s2:05:24on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWhy does Ramadan fall in different seasons each year?
Mufti Abu Layth says the early Islamic calendar was kept in line with the seasons by an extra month, nasi, and Ramadan only began moving through the year after that practice lapsed.
machine5 min 14 s1:23:41on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are the devils really chained up during Ramadan?
No verse says so; Mufti Abu Layth reads the hadith on chained devils as meaning that good deeds become easier in Ramadan's shared spirit.
machine1 min 20 s2:58:11on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan I fast for a fixed 12 hours when the days are very long?
Follow any timetable you like; Mufti Abu Layth endorses the al-Azhar-derived fatwa that a fast of twelve hours or more is valid for anyone who needs it.
machine6 min 31 s3:21:50on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan I skip fasting because of work, exams or health, and what do I do instead?
It is your call: make the fast up later if you can, or give fidya if your situation will not change, which Mufti Abu Layth bases on the plain wording of Quran 2:184.
machine6 min 38 s3:28:21on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
I don't feel spiritual in Ramadan; am I a bad Muslim?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says not feeling Ramadan's atmosphere is no reflection of your faith, since worship is not measured by how good it feels.
machine2 min 38 s3:34:59on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How can I nourish my soul this Ramadan?
To deepen the bond with God, read even a little Quran daily, make personal dua and give charity; learning, poetry, art and meaningful music can also strengthen a person inwardly, not only more voluntary prayer.
machine7 min 29 s2:03:56on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan a woman be an imam and lead the prayer?
Yes: a woman can be an imam and her leading the prayer is valid, though whether it works in practice depends on her society accepting it.
machine2 min 38 s50:21on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Under the microscope: a text on the fast breaking through a 'direct channel'
Mufti Abu Layth mocks a fiqh text saying the fast breaks when a substance reaches the stomach or brain through a 'direct channel'.
machine2 min 30 s34:42on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDo I pay zakat again on savings that haven't grown?
Zakat is due again each year on the same savings, Mufti Abu Layth says, giving it as what is technically said.
machine2 min 30 s2:32:30on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can a woman lead the prayer or give the khutbah?
Yes, he says a woman may lead the prayer, give the adhan or the khutbah; it is not invalid, it is just generally not done.
machine3 min 05 s1:35:21on YouTube
7 Jan 2021video
Do I have to go to jumu'ah every Friday if I live in a non-Muslim country?
In his understanding jumu'ah is not mandatory on each individual in countries like the UK that are not Muslim countries, though holding it communally is good.
machine2 min 16 s0:02on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Should the zakat threshold be different in each country?
Mufti Abu Layth says regional thresholds make sense to him, since the nisab rests on weak hadith and the detailed zakat system was largely built by later scholars.
machine8 min 15 s50:33on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does paying taxes count as paying zakat?
Yes, he believes paying taxes suffices for zakat today, provided the person also gives charity at various points in the year.
machine1 min 58 s58:51on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does giving charity protect me from bad things happening?
Yes: he says giving brings good back, beginning with family, and recalls receiving much more after giving when money was tight.
machine3 min 12 s1:00:09on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How clearly was zakah defined in the Prophet's lifetime?
The guest says some salaf and Ibn Taymiyya counted taxes paid to the authorities as zakah; Mufti Abu Layth says zakah was not clearly defined in the Prophet's time and its later rules were a pragmatic tax decision.
machine5 min 08 s42:21on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Were the people who refused zakah after the Prophet's death apostates?
The guest says taxes that fund welfare can count as zakah, and that the refusers fought by Abu Bakr were rebels against the state rather than apostates; Mufti Abu Layth says he is inclined to that view.
machine7 min 47 s47:29on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is masturbation haram in Islam?
The guest says no Companion is reported to have forbidden masturbation and that the only evidence cited against it is the advice to fast; Mufti Abu Layth says modern society demonises men's sexuality.
machine3 min 48 s1:47:50on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Doesn't the Islamic teaching on modesty make pornography haram?
The guest says the general teaching on modesty is not enough to declare something haram without clear evidence; Mufti Abu Layth says he is not convinced by the report that eating ice does not break the fast.
machine6 min 14 s2:02:05on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does masturbation or other sexual activity break the fast?
The guest says only intercourse is agreed to break the fast, citing Aisha's report and al-Albani; Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees that masturbation per se does not break the fast.
machine5 min 08 s2:08:19on YouTube
1 Aug 2019On Current Events
Is it wrong to judge someone who has become an atheist or left Islam?
A person's atheism or doubts are their own choice and he does not judge them; what he objects to, he says, is staged exorcisms and charity money taken under false pretences.
machine5 min 43 s10:45on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Why did God stop Abraha's army but let the Qaramita steal the Black Stone?
The Black Stone has no sanctity of its own: it was most likely a remnant of pre-Islamic stone worship that Islam kept as a ritual of submission to God, so its theft by the Qaramita, though wrong, was no great matter. Umar himself said it was only a stone that can neither harm nor benefit.
machine15 min 38 s0:00on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa true?
Mufti Abu Layth thinks the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa was most likely added later to give the ritual an Abrahamic link, though he believes the Zamzam story is true. The Quran mentions Safa and Marwa only as a remembrance of God, without linking them to Hajar or Abraham.
machine9 min 08 s15:38on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Did the Prophet restore the original rituals of Ibrahim at the Kaaba?
No: nothing was in Makkah when Ibrahim arrived, and although he and Ismail built the house of remembrance, Safa and Marwa are never linked to him. The Quran presents them only as symbols for remembering God, so there is no point guessing at older origins.
machine1 min 56 s24:46on YouTube
25 May 2019video
Does a nicotine patch or vaping break my fast?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says a nicotine patch does not break the fast, and he feels vaping is the same, though neither is being encouraged.
machine4 min 28 s1:18on YouTube
25 May 2019video
Does smoking break my fast?
Some scholars hold that smoking does not break the fast and those who follow them are not to blame, but Mufti Abu Layth's own advice is to use nicotine patches instead.
machine4 min 07 s4:29on YouTube
24 May 2019Hadith Studies
If I drank alcohol, are my prayers and fasts rejected for 40 days?
No: the fast and prayer are valid. He calls the forty-days hadith an isolated, weak report that clashes with the Quran and reason, though alcohol stays haram.
machine10 min 57 s0:38on YouTube
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