The Expiation of One Who Vowed to Fast on Mondays and Thursdays and Then Became Unable to Do So
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, a person vowed to fast every Monday and Thursday, but then became unable to do so. Is the expiation for one instance, or does he have to make expiation for every Monday and Thursday?
The Shaykh:
He vowed to fast on Mondays and Thursdays until when?
The questioner:
To fast every Monday and Thursday, and then he became unable to do so.
The Shaykh:
For the duration of his life. If he said, "For the duration of my life, I will fast on Mondays and Thursdays," then he is required to make expiation for every Monday and Thursday he did not fast. However, if he did not specify the duration of his life, then if he becomes unable to do so, it is dropped from him; the vow ends with his inability to fulfill it. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 3812Sahih (Darussalam). Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, a person vowed to fast every Monday and Thursday, but then became unable to do so. Is the expiation for one instance, or does he have to make expiation for every Monday and Thursday?
The Shaykh:
He vowed to fast on Mondays and Thursdays until when?
The questioner:
To fast every Monday and Thursday, and then he became unable to do so.
The Shaykh:
For the duration of his life. If he said, "For the duration of my life, I will fast on Mondays and Thursdays," then he is required to make expiation for every Monday and Thursday he did not fast. However, if he did not specify the duration of his life, then if he becomes unable to do so, it is dropped from him; the vow ends with his inability to fulfill it. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
There is no vow to commit an act of disobedience, and no vow concerning that which the son of Adam does not possess.
لا نذر في معصية الله ولا فيما لا يملكه ابن آدم
Source
شرح أخصر المختصرات في الفقه، فصل: بيان من لا تحل لهم الزكاة — islamhouse.com (1:04:48)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.