A Comparative Interpretation of the Verse 184 of Chapter 2 about Breaking the Fast

According to Sunni and Shia exegetes of the Qur'an and based on the verse 184 of Chapter al-Baqarah, travelling, falling ill and weakness lead to exemption from fasting and, therefore, permissibility of breaking the fast. However, there is a discrepancy among Muslim scholars with regards to the degree of illness, distance of travelling, the manifestation of "who are able to do it", prohibition or permissibility of fasting by the aforementioned individuals, the obligation or allowableness of breaking the fast, and the necessity or non-necessity of observing the lapsed fast. Shia scholars agree unanimously that breaking the fast in the above circumstances is mandatory, not a matter of free choice. However, Sunni scholars have differed over this issue. A few of them are of the opinion that it is mandatory to break the fast while most of them maintain that it is a matter of personal choice and that a Muslim individual is free to either break his/her fast or keep it. This article seeks to study the verse 184 of the second chapter of the Quran in light of the opinions of scholars from the two major branches of faith. Relying on exegetical works from various Shia and Sunni scholars, it offers a comparative analysis of the current viewpoints on the subject-matter.