Q: I am a woman and have been suffering from a disease for the last fifteen years. Up until this time (1402 AH) I am suffering from this disease, and last year it was so severe that I was hospitalized and received treatment for three months. The physician prescribed a medication for me to take at home for a year. The disease that I suffer from is a type of pneumonia (Part No. 10; Page No. 178) and bleeding from the mouth. Last year, I fasted eight days during the month of Ramadan. If I stopped taking my medicine, I used to spit up blood with phlegm from my mouth. The physician recommended that I do not stop the medicine. The next Ramadan is coming up soon and I still have not made up for the missed days of Ramadan from last year. If I fast, the hemorrhage will continue as a result of stopping the medicine, and will cause me to spit up phlegm alone or mixed with blood. I would like your Eminence to study my case and to inform me what I should do about the missed days of fasting from the previous Ramadan and the religious ruling regarding the validity of the eight days that I fasted. Please answer my question, may Allah reward you good!

A: If the reality is as you mentioned, then you are allowed to break your fast during the month of Ramadan until you recover and are able to fast. Your fasting last Ramadan is valid and you are not required to make up for the days you fasted, but you are required to make up for the days that you did not fast.You are required to make up for the days that you did not fast during the month of Ramadan whenever you recover and are capable of fasting. If you do not expect to recover from these diseases, then you should feed a needy person for every day of Ramadan that you do not fast. You have to give each needy person half a Sa` (1 Sa`=3 kg. Approx.) of the staple food that is eaten in your country. Half a Sa` is equal to approximately one and a half kilograms. In this case, you are not required to make up for the missed days of fasting. (Part No. 10; Page No. 179) May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.