Whether yelling at kids or beating them invalidates fasting

15-5-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

Does it invalidate my fasting that I yell at or beat my kids as a form of discipline? Please advise me?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There are specific matters that invalidate fasting; these are eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, and such pertinent actions.

Disciplining kids by yelling or beating is not one of the matters that invalidate fasting. However, it is worth noting that the basic rule in parenting is to be kind with kids. Whenever kindness exists in our life, everything will be blessed, and whenever kindness is taken away from our life, everything will go wrong, as explained by the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.  The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, says, “Allah is Kind, and He likes kindness in every matter.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

That being said, you are highly encouraged not to beat kids or yell at them unless this is badly needed, in which case you keep it to a minimum.

Allah knows best.