Safeguarding Ramadan fast

We should be asking ourselves some pertinent questions. Are we really repentant and remorseful in words and actions over our sins?  Are we observing the Ramadan fast in accordance with the principles laid down by the Qur’an and teachings of the Prophet (SAW)? Our Ramadan fast could also lose its utility if we fail to shun sinful acts and indeed every forbidden speech or act.
Ramadan fast is an act of devotion that actually goes beyond abstinence from food, drink and cohabitation between dawn and sunset. These forms of self-denial do not merely perfect fasting. It has to be accompanied with a heart filed with the fear of Allah; a sense deeply rooted in righteous reflections; a conscience that is sincerely remorseful and repentant; a memory committed to constant remembrance of Allah; a tongue dedicated to the recitation of the holy Qur’an; and a body wholly devouted to the genuine worship of Allah. Only then can we be close to believing men and women whose fast would earn them the desired reward.  
Believers in their observance of the Ramadan fast are expected to be fully guided by the sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). If a believer out of forgetfulness eats food or drinks water between dawn and sunset, he is neither liable to do kaffarah (expiation by fasting consecutively for sixty days) nor pay back that day’s fast after Ramadan. His fast for that day remains valid as long as the eating or the drinking was not intentional.
Imam Bukhari relates on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA) that the Prophet (SAW) said: “If anyone of you forgets (during Ramadan) and then eats or drinks, let him complete his fast; verily, it is Allah (SWT) who gave him to eat or drink.” However, the absentminded believer must stop eating or drinking as soon as he remembers that he is fasting. Forgetfulness, according to prophetic traditions, is one of the three sins, which Allah (SWT) easily overlooks and forgives. Ibn Abbas (RA) reports that the Prophet (SAW) said: “Allah has for my sake overlooked the mistakes and the forgetfulness of my Ummah (community) as well as what they are forced to do.”
The fast of a believer equally remains intact even when, for inevitable reasons, the fajr (daybreak) catches up with him while he is still in a state of major ritual impurity. Aisha (RA) and Umm Salamah (RA), wives of the Prophet (SAW), both relate that the Prophet (SAW) used to get up in the morning with junub (major impurity) from intercourse and not from a dream, in Ramadan, and would yet (continue with the day’s) fast.
The day’s fast would remain valid as long as the person involved did not enter in to the state of major impurity after daybreak. If however, a believer engaged in lustful thoughts or actions after daybreak and thus landed himself/herself into a state of major impurity; he/she would of course be guilty of a great sin. In this case, the believer concerned must expiate by fasting consecutively for sixty days in addition to the one he vitiated; giving a total of sixty-one days of unbroken fast.
Granted that there exist prophetic traditions that permit a fasting believer to kiss, exceptional caution must be exercised in doing that. Aisha (RA) reports that the Prophet (SAW) used to kiss some of his wives when fasting. Similarly, Malik relates from Yahaya Ibn Sa’eed that Atika, wife of Umar Ibn al-Khattab (RA) used to kiss Umar’s head while he was fasting and he did not stop her. On another occasion, Aisha bint Talha was once sitting with the prophet’s wife, Aisha (RA). Then, the former’s husband in person of Abdullah Ibn Abdurrahman Ibn Abi Bakr Siddiq, came and visited her there. The prophet’s wife, Aisha (RA), said to him: “What’s stopping you from coming close to your wife, kissing her and joking with her?” He said: “Can I kiss her when I am fasting?” The prophet’s wife, Aisha (RA) replied: “Yes.” However, these traditions should not prompt contemporary Muslims whose faith or faithfulness does not obviously compare with that of the Prophet (SAW) or of his companions.
Yahaya relates on the authority of Malik that Hisham bn Urwa bn Zubayr said: “I do not think kissing invites to good for people who are fasting”. Abdullahi bn Abbas (RA) was once asked about people kissing while fasting and he replied that he allowed it for old men but disapproved of it for young men. Abu Hurayrah (RA) also reports that the Prophet (SAW) said: “Fasting is protection for you. So when you are fasting, do not behave obscenely or foolishly, and if anyone argues with you or abuses you, say: I am fasting.” It would be in your own interest to restrain from kissing while fasting considering the great risk involved.
Believers are exhorted to take sahur (last meal before dawn during Ramadan) as that constitutes a strong sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). Amr bn al-As (RA) reports from the Prophet (SAW) that it is sahur that distinguishes our fast from the fast of the People of the Book. Sahur should also terminate in good time, which in the language of the holy Qur’an is when the white thread appears distinct from the black. Precisely, Allah (SWT) explains in Qur’an 2: 187 “… And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from its black thread …” According to the sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), there should be a period long enough to recite 50 verses of the holy Qur’an between when sahur should stop and the time for subhi (morning) prayers. Believers are also expected to hasten to break their fast at sunset.
May Allah, forgive our acts of disobedience and accept our acts of devoution; putting us among those to be liberated during this Ramadan from Jahannam, amin. Ramadan Kareem!