Repeat of topics: "11 and 12".

Eid Abbasi : If the month of Ramadan comes upon a Muslim who is ill with an illness that prevents him from fasting, and then death overtakes him and he goes to his Lord; is the expiation obligatory upon his heirs, or what is the case?

The Shaykh : Nothing explicit has been established regarding this matter, although there is his saying (peace be upon him) in "the two Sahihs": . The Shafi'is adopted this view, making it obligatory for the guardian of the deceased to fast the days of Ramadan he missed due to his illness. However, what is stronger in our view is what Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) adopted, following the narrator of this hadith I mentioned earlier: . One of its narrators is Abdullah ibn Abbas, who interpreted this hadith as applying to the fasting of a vow. So if a person vows to fast a day or more and then does not fulfill it, the aforementioned hadith applies: . As for the fasting that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) directly obligated upon the Muslims for their purification and cleansing, the fundamental principle in Islam applies here: . But if a person imposes an obligation on himself that Allah did not impose on him, in the form of a vow, then the aforementioned hadith is applied to that: . Explicit hadiths have come regarding this; that a woman asked the Messenger (peace be upon him) that her sister or brother had died and he had fasting of a vow upon him, so he (peace be upon him) said: . Thus, explicit hadiths came in the question and answer regarding the fasting of a vow, so Ibn Abbas (who is one of the narrators of this hadith, as we said) applied it to the fasting of a vow. This is what we see, and Allah knows best.

Eid Abbasi : Meaning, if he dies and has not made up an obligatory fast, does it drop from him or not?

The Shaykh : First, the question was not that he did not make it up, but rather that he died in Ramadan, or so I understood it.

Eid Abbasi : ... .

The Shaykh : Now we divide the previous question and answer into two parts; the first part: a man who is ill in Ramadan dies; in Ramadan, and he has days of Ramadan upon him; so my previous statement applies to this.
Another scenario: a person breaks his fast for days in Ramadan while he is ill, then he recovers afterwards and does not make up what is upon him while he is able; so we do not say that anyone can fast on his behalf; his case is like that of the one who breaks his fast in Ramadan intentionally and deliberately, his case is like that of the one who abandons prayer intentionally and deliberately; this has no expiation whatsoever. But the one who is excused—that is, the one who died while ill—cannot make up the days of Ramadan he missed; our previous statement applies to him. As for a person who intentionally breaks his fast in Ramadan, or did not intend it; he was ill and weak (and Allah knows his intention), then when... he was cured and recovered and days passed over him, perhaps even months, and then he did not make it up; this is not made up on his behalf whatsoever.