I missed some days of fasting during Ramadan. Is it permissible to delay making up missed fasts until the winter months, when the cooler weather and shorter days would make fasting easier?
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammed and upon all his Family and Companions.
Yes, you can make up your fasts in winter but although this would be permissible it would be in opposition to what is recommended. The better way is to make up the missed fasts as soon as one is able to.
When I am praying my 18-month-old daughter quite often comes to stand beside me. Sometimes she lies down in front of me or tries to kiss and hug me when I am praying. Do I need to push her away?
There is nothing wrong in praying while your daughter is beside you or in front of you while you are prostrating. Also your prayer shall not be affected despite her kissing you or climbing on to your back. Yet you only need to make sure she is clean and pure before you start salat (praying).
On the authority of Abu Qatada Al Ansari, the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was praying and he was carrying Umama, the daughter of Zainab, the daughter of Allah’s Apostle, and she was the daughter of Abu Aas. When he prostrated, he put her down and when he stood, he carried her on his neck.
Explaining whether it is acceptable to carry or touch children in salat, Imam Al Nawawi wrote that a human being is tahir (clean) regardless of what he has in his stomach. So children’s bodies and clothes are naturally clean unless some impurities affect them.
Al Nawawi further explained that such minor acts of distraction do not invalidate salat, as evidenced by the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and Allah knows best.
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