What is the decree on breaking a qada fasting?

I was performing a qada fasting and went somewhere to visit my friends; I broke my fast by eating what they treated me. 1) Did I commit a sin? Did I do something wrong? 2) Do I have to perform that fasting as qada again? 3) Should I not go to anybody’s house when I am fasting? 4) Is qada fasting regarded as fard?

Dear Brother / Sister,

If a person breaks his fast by eating and drinking deliberately, it is necessary to perform it only as qada again. It is fard to perform that fasting but it can be performed on any day of the year. The fasting performed in the month of Ramadan is fard to perform only in that month; therefore, kaffarah (fasting for two consecutive months) is necessary when it is broken.

However, when you have qada fasting to perform, it is not fard to perform it in a certain month or on a certain day; you can perform it whenever you want. Therefore, if a person breaks a qada fasting of Ramadan deliberately, it is enough to perform it again as one day.

Eating and drinking by forgetting while performing Ramadan fasting, qada fasting or nafilah fasting does not invalidate wudu.  Such a person needs to stop eating and drinking as soon as he remembers and continue fasting. However, if he continues eating thinking that "my fasting has been invalidated", it becomes necessary for him to perform qada fasting one day.

Since qada fasting is fard, it is not appropriate to delay it and to break it deliberately. However, it is not a sin like breaking fasting in Ramadan. A person who breaks his qada fasting deliberately does something wrong but he is not regarded to have committed a haram deed.

It is permissible to visit people when you fast but it is better not to fast on the day you will visit so as not to have to reject the food offered to you or to visit some other day.

Qada fasting is not subject to the same decree as Ramadan fasting. Kaffarah is necessary if Ramadan fasting is broken deliberately but only one day of qada fasting is necessary if qada fasting is broken deliberately.

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