An elderly woman suffering from illness, so she is unable to fast; how is the compensation for this?
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The questioner : An elderly woman suffering from illness, so she is unable to fast. How is the compensation for this? Does she pay a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) for each day, or does she pay it all at once at the end of Ramadan?
The Shaykh : She has the choice. If she wishes, she may pay the fidyah (a ransom payment) for each day on that day. However, she must not pay the second day's portion to the first poor person, because the number of poor people must equal the number of days. If the month is thirty days, how many poor people are there? Thirty poor people or thirty needy people. If it is twenty-nine days, the number of poor people is twenty-nine.
As for the amount to be given, it is not a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) as the questioner said. It is not a sa', but less than that. The sa' we have is sufficient for five poor people. A sa' of rice is sufficient for five poor people. It is permissible for a person to gather ten poor people in the first ten days and feed them dinner, and ten poor people in the middle ten days, other than the first ones, and feed them dinner, and in the third, the last ten days, how many? Ten poor people, other than the first ones, and feed them dinner. It is also permissible to gather thirty poor people on the last day, as Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) used to do when he grew old. Yes.
The Shaykh : She has the choice. If she wishes, she may pay the fidyah (a ransom payment) for each day on that day. However, she must not pay the second day's portion to the first poor person, because the number of poor people must equal the number of days. If the month is thirty days, how many poor people are there? Thirty poor people or thirty needy people. If it is twenty-nine days, the number of poor people is twenty-nine.
As for the amount to be given, it is not a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) as the questioner said. It is not a sa', but less than that. The sa' we have is sufficient for five poor people. A sa' of rice is sufficient for five poor people. It is permissible for a person to gather ten poor people in the first ten days and feed them dinner, and ten poor people in the middle ten days, other than the first ones, and feed them dinner, and in the third, the last ten days, how many? Ten poor people, other than the first ones, and feed them dinner. It is also permissible to gather thirty poor people on the last day, as Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) used to do when he grew old. Yes.