The Elderly Person Who Cannot Fast: Is It Obligatory to Feed a Poor Person Every Day?
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The questioner : The questioner says: For an elderly person who is unable to fast, is it necessary for him to feed a poor person every day, and what is the amount of that charity?
The Shaykh : The elderly person who is not expected to be able to fast feeds a poor person for each day. The method of feeding is to give each person a quarter of a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of wheat or rice. If he wishes, he may feed ten poor people at the end of the month. This is what Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he grew old and was unable to fast; he used to feed the poor people bread and dates at the end of the month.
However, it must be noted that it is not permissible to limit the fidyah (a ransom payment) to one man by repeating it to him every day. Rather, there must be poor people equal in number to the days of the month. Yes, equal to the number of days in the month, whether the month is twenty-nine days or thirty days. If it is thirty days, he is required to feed thirty poor people; if it is twenty-nine days, he is required to feed twenty-nine poor people.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : This questioner says: Shaykh Muhammad, is it permissible to delay it until the end of the month and pay it all at once?
The Shaykh : Yes, as I mentioned to you in the question, it is permissible to feed the poor people at the end of the month.
The questioner : If he is unable to pay, who pays it on his behalf?
The Shaykh : If he is unable to pay, he owes nothing, because this is an obligation for Allah the Exalted, and Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:286] And He the Exalted said: [At-Taghabun 64:16] The broad principle in the Islamic Shari'ah is that obligations are dropped due to inability to fulfill them.
The Shaykh : The elderly person who is not expected to be able to fast feeds a poor person for each day. The method of feeding is to give each person a quarter of a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of wheat or rice. If he wishes, he may feed ten poor people at the end of the month. This is what Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he grew old and was unable to fast; he used to feed the poor people bread and dates at the end of the month.
However, it must be noted that it is not permissible to limit the fidyah (a ransom payment) to one man by repeating it to him every day. Rather, there must be poor people equal in number to the days of the month. Yes, equal to the number of days in the month, whether the month is twenty-nine days or thirty days. If it is thirty days, he is required to feed thirty poor people; if it is twenty-nine days, he is required to feed twenty-nine poor people.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : This questioner says: Shaykh Muhammad, is it permissible to delay it until the end of the month and pay it all at once?
The Shaykh : Yes, as I mentioned to you in the question, it is permissible to feed the poor people at the end of the month.
The questioner : If he is unable to pay, who pays it on his behalf?
The Shaykh : If he is unable to pay, he owes nothing, because this is an obligation for Allah the Exalted, and Allah the Exalted said:
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَاSo fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 1153- الكبير في السن الذي لا يستطيع الصيام هل يجب إطعام كل يوم مسكين؟ /سؤال على الهاتف 📞 /ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.