Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Is a person afflicted by renal failure permitted to leave fasting? هل يجوز الفطر لمريض مصاب بمرض الفشل الكلوي؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.   Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.   As to what follows:   In response to your question, we say:       If dialysis leaves the sick person weak and unable to fast, then in this case it will not be compulsory for him to fast. Then there is another question; is this continuous or not?; meaning is he perpetually unable to fast or can he not fast only on the days that he has dialysis? If he cannot fast perpetually then he should feed a poor person for each missed day of fasting because of Allah the Exalted’s statement: “And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]” (al-Baqarah 2: 184). This is the opinion of most of the scholars.     If he can fast on the days of dialysis, here we say to him, “Do not fast in the days that you cannot, then make up for them later, because of Allah’s statement: “but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up) from other days”. (al-Baqarah 2: 184)