If a person falls ill during Ramadan with an illness that is expected to end, and the illness continues until he dies, what is required of him?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question : So if a person falls ill during Ramadan with an illness that is expected to end.
Answer : And the illness continues with him until he dies, then he owes nothing. His guardian does not fast on his behalf, nor does he feed people on his behalf. Why? Because he was unable to fast. We said "it is expected to end" to distinguish this from the case where Ramadan comes to a person whose recovery is not expected. In that case, fasting is not his obligation; rather, feeding people is his obligation. So he feeds people, and his matter in Ramadan is concluded. His matter in Ramadan is concluded. This is a matter in which some students may err. They may think the first case is like the second, but there is a difference between them. Because the obligation of the sick person in the first case is fasting—to fast in place of what he left—and he was unable to do so afterwards, so it was dropped from him, just as if he died in Ramadan, or died in Sha'ban. As for the second, what is the obligation?
Feeding people, originally. Meaning, this person whose recovery is not expected, when Ramadan comes, there is no fasting on him at all. Rather, feeding people is obligatory. So we feed people on his behalf in the month itself, and his matter is concluded. Yes.
Answer : And the illness continues with him until he dies, then he owes nothing. His guardian does not fast on his behalf, nor does he feed people on his behalf. Why? Because he was unable to fast. We said "it is expected to end" to distinguish this from the case where Ramadan comes to a person whose recovery is not expected. In that case, fasting is not his obligation; rather, feeding people is his obligation. So he feeds people, and his matter in Ramadan is concluded. His matter in Ramadan is concluded. This is a matter in which some students may err. They may think the first case is like the second, but there is a difference between them. Because the obligation of the sick person in the first case is fasting—to fast in place of what he left—and he was unable to do so afterwards, so it was dropped from him, just as if he died in Ramadan, or died in Sha'ban. As for the second, what is the obligation?
Feeding people, originally. Meaning, this person whose recovery is not expected, when Ramadan comes, there is no fasting on him at all. Rather, feeding people is obligatory. So we feed people on his behalf in the month itself, and his matter is concluded. Yes.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 2190 - لو أن إنسانا مرض في رمضان مرضا يرجى برؤه ثم استمر به المرض حتى مات ماذا عليه؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
