The Official Website of Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

the following are a few points pertaining to fasting. 1. Generally speaking, if one breaks their fast due to some legitimate excuse, based on obligatory precaution, they should abstain from fast invalidators until Maghreb except for those who break their fast due to travelling, menstruation or some illness for whom it is recommended to abstain from eating and drinking until Maghreb. 2. Eating saḥūr or Iftar is not obligatory and one cannot break the fast on the pretext of not having eating Saḥūr unless they cannot continue fasting due to excessive weakness or they are afraid of falling sick. However, if one knows that this will occur to them, they are required to have the Saḥūr. But nonetheless, if one does not have the Saḥūr and then has to break the fast, kaffārah will not be obligatory upon them. 3. Committing haram acts which do not invalidate fasting, such as telling a lie, backbiting, listening to haram music, making friends with non-mahram or speaking with non-mahram more than enough, which are likely to result in corruption, do not invalidate fasting. But they reduce the spiritual reward and spiritual impacts of fasting and it is necessary for the believer to repent to Allah immediately. 4. If one misses their prayer, it does not cause a problem for the fast, but one should try not to miss a prayer and should one miss a prayer based on obligatory precaution, they should make up for it before the next prayer. 5. Fasting has its own definition and the fast of silence or children's half-day fasting are not legitimate in Islam. However, parents can come up with a schedule made up for three meals so that the children can practice fasting for the time of their puberty. 6. If one does not fast without having a legitimate excuse, we should forbid them from doing this evil using an appropriate tone and we should not provide food for them, even if the one not observing fast is a worker in our house. But it is permissible to give them a pay raise instead of preparing food for them unless a certain situation arises in which we have to prepare food in the blessed month of Ramadan in which case it is not problematic.