The Ruling on the Fast of a Person who drinks Alcohol during the nights of Ramadhan

Question

There is a person who has been tested with drinking alcohol. This is so much so that he even drinks it during the nights of Ramadhan. So, what is the ruling on his fasting during the day while he drinks alcohol during the night?


Answer

Drinking alcohol is from the major sins due to the Statement of Allah:


"0 you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds oj alcoholic drinks), gambling, Al-Ansab (stone altars for sacrificing animals to false deities), and Al-Azlam (arrows for seeking luck) are an abomination of Satan's handiwork. So, avoid that (abomination) in order that you may be successful. Satan wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from As-Salah (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain? (Surah Al-Ma’idah 5: 90-91)

Thus, drinking is forbidden during Ramadhan and outside of Ramadhan, even though drinking it during Ramadhan is even more severely forbidden. Therefore, the person who drinks it must repent to Allah by avoiding drinking it and feeling sorrow for his being negligent about the crime of drinking it, and he must feel guilty about that. He must also be determined not to return to it during Ramadhan or any other time.

In reference to the fast of whoever drinks it (alcohol, intoxicants) during the night, then his fast is correct and acceptable, as long as he abstains from eating, drinking and the other things that break the fast, from dawn to sunset with the intention of fasting for Allah.


The Permanent Committee

Reference: Fatawa Islamiyah Volume 3 Page 249-250