The fidyah for fasting on behalf of an incapacitated mother and the delay in paying it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
My mother has not been able to fast for these past two years, every year due to the chronic illnesses she suffers from, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments. She asked me to feed a poor person on her behalf for each day she missed, but I was lax in this matter because I intended to pay for all the missed fasts at once to one of the mosques. However, time passed and I forgot until now. So, is it obligatory for me to pay for all of them along with the expiation for the coming month, if Allah wills, to one of the mosque imams who knows the impact on the fasting people, or what should I do?
Answer:
If your mother is unable to fast due to a permanent incapacity, then it is obligatory to feed a poor person for each day of Ramadan. So you must feed on her behalf for all the previous months, for each day the food of a poor person, meaning one and a half kilograms for each day. Half a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) equals one and a half kilograms for each day of Ramadan.
You pay it to the poor and the needy, and you do not pay it to break the fast of a fasting person, because breaking the fast of a fasting person includes both those who are eligible and those who are not, whereas this is specifically for feeding a poor person. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:184] You must be certain, or it must be the predominant belief in your mind, that he is a poor person in need. As for those who gather to eat the iftar (breaking the fast), you do not know their circumstances; perhaps there are people among them who are not poor. Breaking the fast of a fasting person is required to be done for the fasting person even if they are not poor. If a group of fasting people were present and you broke their fast, even if they were rich, you would receive reward for that. So breaking the fast of a fasting person is not limited to the poor; rather, it is for everyone who is present at the time of iftar. Therefore, do not pay it to break the fast of a fasting person, nor to the imam of the mosque for the purpose of breaking the fast of a fasting person, unless the imam of the mosque knows the poor and the needy and pays it to them on your behalf; in that case, there is no harm. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
My mother has not been able to fast for these past two years, every year due to the chronic illnesses she suffers from, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments. She asked me to feed a poor person on her behalf for each day she missed, but I was lax in this matter because I intended to pay for all the missed fasts at once to one of the mosques. However, time passed and I forgot until now. So, is it obligatory for me to pay for all of them along with the expiation for the coming month, if Allah wills, to one of the mosque imams who knows the impact on the fasting people, or what should I do?
Answer:
If your mother is unable to fast due to a permanent incapacity, then it is obligatory to feed a poor person for each day of Ramadan. So you must feed on her behalf for all the previous months, for each day the food of a poor person, meaning one and a half kilograms for each day. Half a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) equals one and a half kilograms for each day of Ramadan.
You pay it to the poor and the needy, and you do not pay it to break the fast of a fasting person, because breaking the fast of a fasting person includes both those who are eligible and those who are not, whereas this is specifically for feeding a poor person. 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 مِسْكِينٍThe presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-032-الصيام آداب و أحكام|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (54:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.