The Fourth Condition: That One Be Capable, with Mention of the Categories of Inability
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The Shaykh : The fourth condition is that one be capable, and the opposite of capability is inability. The scholars divided inability into two categories: inability that is not expected to end, and inability that is expected to end. Inability that is not expected to end is like a person suffering from a disease from which recovery is hopeless, such as cancer or tuberculosis in the past. It also includes an elderly person, because the old age of an elderly person is not expected to end, for we do not know of a man who grew old and then became young again, ever. For this reason, the poet says: "If only, and what good would it do, if only, if only youth were sold, I would buy it" He wishes that youth could be sold so that he could buy it, but this is not possible. I say that if a person reaches old age and becomes unable to fast, then in this state he must feed a poor person for every day. What is the evidence for this? The evidence is the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:184] The way this indicates the ruling is that when fasting was first made obligatory, a person was given the choice between fasting or feeding a poor person for every day. So Allah the Exalted made feeding an equivalent to fasting. Therefore, if the primary obligation, which is fasting, becomes impossible, we return to its equivalent, which is feeding. How does one feed? We say that feeding has two methods. The first method is to prepare food at the end of the month and invite poor people equal in number to the days of the month. If the month is twenty-nine days, he invites twenty-nine; if the month is thirty days, he invites thirty, so that they eat this food. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) did this when he grew old. The second method of feeding is to give them grain and meat. The amount is eighteen kilograms of rice distributed among thirty poor people. This is because the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is less than the sa' commonly used among us, as the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is two kilograms and forty grams. Two kilograms and forty grams. And the sa', meaning the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), is four mudds, and one mudd is sufficient to feed a poor person. Based on this, are two kilograms and forty grams sufficient for four people? Because the sa' is four mudds. If we multiply the two kilograms by four, it becomes eight kilograms. Eight kilograms for sixteen people. So if we say that the obligation is eighteen kilograms for thirty days, is this sufficient or not?
The questioner : It is not sufficient.
The Shaykh : Reflect on it.
The questioner : There is a remainder.
The Shaykh : Two kilograms and forty-one grams for four people means each person gets half a kilogram. So on this basis, fifteen kilograms is sufficient, but we added three kilograms because of the excess, which is forty grams. If a person feeds each poor person two kilograms of rice with meat, he has done good, because we do not forbid increasing the amount if one sees that it is more beneficial for the poor person. As for the second category of inability, it is temporary inability that is expected to end, such as common illnesses that befall a person during the days of Ramadan, like a cold, a headache, and the like, which make fasting difficult. In this category, it is obligatory for the person to make up the number of days he did not fast, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:185] And His saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:184] He did not say "he must fast a month," but said "a number of other days," so that the days would be twenty-nine if the month is twenty-nine, and thirty if the month is thirty. I am actually distracted by this microphone because I feel he is not hearing.
The questioner : Strong, strong, once.
The Shaykh : The important thing is that we continue, because you are listening and we are not stopping.
The questioner : Clear, clear.
The Shaykh : So inability is divided into how many categories? Two categories: permanent inability that is not expected to end, and its obligation is feeding; and temporary inability that is expected to end, and its obligation is to fast in place of the days he left. And you know the evidence:[Al-Baqarah 2:184].
And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person
وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعام مسكينThe questioner : It is not sufficient.
The Shaykh : Reflect on it.
The questioner : There is a remainder.
The Shaykh : Two kilograms and forty-one grams for four people means each person gets half a kilogram. So on this basis, fifteen kilograms is sufficient, but we added three kilograms because of the excess, which is forty grams. If a person feeds each poor person two kilograms of rice with meat, he has done good, because we do not forbid increasing the amount if one sees that it is more beneficial for the poor person. As for the second category of inability, it is temporary inability that is expected to end, such as common illnesses that befall a person during the days of Ramadan, like a cold, a headache, and the like, which make fasting difficult. In this category, it is obligatory for the person to make up the number of days he did not fast, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days
ومن كان مريضا أو على سفر فعدة من أيام أخرan equal number of days [are to be made up]
فعدة من أيام أخرThe questioner : Strong, strong, once.
The Shaykh : The important thing is that we continue, because you are listening and we are not stopping.
The questioner : Clear, clear.
The Shaykh : So inability is divided into how many categories? Two categories: permanent inability that is not expected to end, and its obligation is feeding; and temporary inability that is expected to end, and its obligation is to fast in place of the days he left. And you know the evidence: