SAUM (FASTING), TYPE OF FASTING, THINGS MAKROOH WHILE FASTING

Saum (Fasting)                             

1. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam
2. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is Fardh upon every Muslim, male and female who is sane and mature.
3. Almighty Allah has promised great reward for those that Fast, whilst severe punishment is in store for those that do not fast in the month of Ramadah.
4. Fasting has many physical, moral and social benefits. However, Allah has made fast compulsory, so that we become pious, God fearing and God conscious.
5. Fasting in Islam means to stay away from eating, drinking and cohabitation from Subha Sadiq (early dawn) to sunset with a Niyyat of saum (fasting).

Types of Fast
There are eight types of Saum. They are as follows:

1. Fardhe Muaiyyan:
   Fasting for the whole month of Ramadan once a year.
2. Fardhe Ghair Muaiyyan:
   The duty upon one the keep Qazaa of a saum missed in the month of Ramadan with or without a valid reason.
3. Wajib Muaiyyan:
   To vow to keep a fast on a specific day or date for the sake of Allah, upon the fulfillment of some wish or desire (Nazr).
4. Wajib Ghair Muaiyyan:
   To vow or pledge to keep a fast without fixing any day or date, upon the fulfillment of a wish (Nazr). Those saums which are kept for breaking one's Qasm (Oath) also fall under this category.
5. Sunnat:
   Those saums which Prophet Mohammad   (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam)kept and encouraged others to keep, e.g., fasting on the 9th & 10th Muharram, the 9th of Zil Hajjah etc.,
6. Mustahab:
   All fasts besides Fardh, Wajib & Sunnat are Mustahab, eg., fasting on Mondays & Thursdays.
7. Makrooh:
   Fasting only on the 9th or 10th of Muharram or fasting only on Saturdays.
8. Haraam:
   It is Haraam to fast on five days during the year. They are Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha and three days after Eidul Adha.

The Niyyat Or Intention

1. The Niyyat (intention) of fasting is necessary. If a person stays away from all those things that break one's fast without a Niyyah, the fast will not be valid.
2. It is not necessary to express the Niyyat verbally as niyyat means to intend. Thus, the intention at heart will suffice. However, it is better to express the niyyat verbally also.
3. The time for niyyat lasts upto midday for Fardhe Muaiyyan, Wajib Muaiyyan, Sunnat or Mustahab fasts. The hours of a day are from Subha Saadiq to sunset.
4. The niyyat for Fardhe Ghair Muaiyyan and Wajib Ghair Muaiyyan should be made before Subha Saadiq.

Things Makrooh While Fasting

1. To chew gum, rubber, plastic items or other such things.
2. To taste any article of food or drink and spit it out. If a woman has a very ill-tempered husband, it is permissible for her to taste the food, provided it does not go down the throat.
3. To collect one's saliva in the mouth and then to swallow it, trying to quench thirst.
4. To delay a bath that has become Fardh knowingly until after Subha Sadiq.
5. To use paste or tooth power to clean one's teeth. It is permitted to clean with a miswaak of any fresh branch or root (tooth stick).
6. To complain of hunger & thirst.
7. To take the water too much up the nostrils when cleaning the nose.
8. To gargle more then necessary
9. To quarrel, argue, use filthy or indecent words.
10. To backbite, tell a lie and swear etc., are sinful acts even when one is not fasting. Therefore they become even worse when fasting.