Ramadan this year will be unlike any other, as this is the first holy month since the January 25 Revolution toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and vanquished the former regime. With some protestors continuing the sit-in in Tahrir Square, some are concerned that fasting – while protesting and chanting in the heat – will not be possible, leading some to question whether such protestors should refrain from fasting or whether protesting will affect the legitimacy of a religious fast. If the sit-in is a fight against injustice and will not cause harm, it will not affect the legitimacy of a fast, said Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, member of the Islamic Research Academy. The only time it is permitted to break a fast is when one is engaged in a battle with enemies of the faith, and thus protestors must not break their fast during the sit-in, said Ashour, the vice-president of the Assiut branch of Al-Azhar University. The sit-in is permissible according to international conventions and the laws of Egypt, and protestors need not endure the challenge of the fast since Islamic Law allows for exceptions under extenuating circumstances, said Saad al-Din al-Hilali, professor of comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University and member of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs.
