The Ruling on Fasting for the Elderly
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you and grant you reward. The question is about the legal criterion regarding the fasting of an elderly person?
Answer:
An elderly person is like anyone else; if he is able to fast, then fasting is obligatory for him, yes. If he is unable to fast on some days, he breaks his fast and makes up the days he missed. As for if he is unable to fast, whether currently or in the future, then he must feed a poor person for each day, one and a half kilograms for each day. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:184] "And those who are able to fast with hardship"—meaning they are unable to fast it—and in another reading, "those who find it difficult"—meaning it is hard for them. Yes.
May Allah reward you and grant you reward. The question is about the legal criterion regarding the fasting of an elderly person?
Answer:
An elderly person is like anyone else; if he is able to fast, then fasting is obligatory for him, yes. If he is unable to fast on some days, he breaks his fast and makes up the days he missed. As for if he is unable to fast, whether currently or in the future, then he must feed a poor person for each day, one and a half kilograms for each day. Allah the Exalted said:
And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، حكم صيام كبير السن - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.