There is nothing wrong with giving food and drink to a mentally impaired person during the day in Ramadan
Question On the first day of Ramadan, I had a visit from an old lady who is one hundred years old. Sometimes she is aware and sometimes she is not aware. She asked me to make coffee for her, and I did that and brought the coffee to her. Is there any sin on me…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
If it seems that she is mentally impaired and that she has
become senile, there is nothing wrong with your making coffee for her,
because she is not obliged to fast. The fact that she is partly rational,
such as when she says, ‘Do such and such or bring me such and such,’ does
not mean that she is of completely sound mind. In most cases one who
reaches the age of one hundred has become senile and has changed. If it
seems to you that she is mentally impaired and that she is not fully
aware, there is nothing wrong with her eating and drinking. But if you
think that she is fully of sound mind and that she is being negligent,
then do not give her coffee or anything else, lest you are helping her in
falsehood. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Help you one another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue,
righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and
transgression”
[al-Maa’idah 5:2].
If a person asks for food in Ramadan and he is healthy and is
Muslim, he should not be given either food or drink or cigarettes, and he
should not be helped in falsehood.
But if he is mentally impaired, such as one who has an
intellectual disability, has become senile, is insane or is very old, there
is no blame on them because fasting is waived in their case. End quote.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)
