Feeding the poor before Ramadan on behalf of a person suffering from a chronic illness
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
I say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, you mentioned (may Allah preserve you) in a past lesson that it is permissible to feed the sick person who has a chronic illness from which recovery is not expected; it is permissible to feed them before Ramadan.
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
How can one be criticized for performing something before it becomes obligatory upon him? What is the answer to this?
The Shaykh:
It is permissible to feed the poor before Ramadan, during Ramadan, or after Ramadan, because Allah did not specify a time. He said, "So the feeding of a poor person," without specifying "in Ramadan" or omitting the time entirely. Also, the objective is achieved, and the needy person may be present before Ramadan. Why delay it when the needy person is with you and the situation calls for you to give it to him? Allah has been lenient in this matter to consider the benefits, so do not make it difficult for yourself.
I say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, you mentioned (may Allah preserve you) in a past lesson that it is permissible to feed the sick person who has a chronic illness from which recovery is not expected; it is permissible to feed them before Ramadan.
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
How can one be criticized for performing something before it becomes obligatory upon him? What is the answer to this?
The Shaykh:
It is permissible to feed the poor before Ramadan, during Ramadan, or after Ramadan, because Allah did not specify a time. He said, "So the feeding of a poor person," without specifying "in Ramadan" or omitting the time entirely. Also, the objective is achieved, and the needy person may be present before Ramadan. Why delay it when the needy person is with you and the situation calls for you to give it to him? Allah has been lenient in this matter to consider the benefits, so do not make it difficult for yourself.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 141/55 شرح زاد المستقنع/ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (31:28)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.