Is it obligatory to make up the fasting of a vow before fasting the month of Ramadan, or is it not obligatory? If it is obligatory and one did not fast until after fasting the month of Ramadan, what is required of him?

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The questioner : The questioner says: May the Shaykh please tell us, is it obligatory in making up a vow to fast before fasting the month of Ramadan, or is it not obligatory? If it is obligatory and one did not fast until after fasting the month of Ramadan, what is required of him?

The Shaykh : It is obligatory for one who vows to fast, if the vow is conditional, to fulfill it as soon as the condition is met, without delay. For example, if someone says, "If Allah heals me from this illness, I have a vow to fast three days," and he is healed from the illness, it is obligatory for the person to hasten to fast and not delay, because Allah the Exalted said:

⁽⁷⁵⁾ And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous." ⁽⁷⁶⁾ But when he gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away while they refused. ⁽⁷⁷⁾ So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him

وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ لَئِنْ آتَانَا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِين فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ فَأَعْقَبَهُمْ نِفَاقاً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ يَلْقَوْنَهُ

[At-Tawbah 9:75-77]

I seek refuge in Allah

because they failed Allah in what they promised Him and because they [habitually] used to lie.

بِمَا أَخْلَفُوا اللَّهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ وَبِمَا كَانُوا يَكَذِبُونَ

[At-Tawbah 9:77]

. As for a vow that is not conditional, where a person wants to discipline himself to fast and says, "I have a vow to fast three days," without any cause, he must hasten to fulfill it, but it is not as obligatory as the first one. If Ramadan comes and he has not fasted, it is known that he begins with Ramadan, and when Ramadan ends, he fasts the vow. However, if he fasts the vow during Ramadan, his fasting for the vow and his fasting for Ramadan are both invalid. Be careful! If a person has a vow to fast three days and he fasts three days of Ramadan for the vow, what is required of him? It does not count for the vow, nor for Ramadan. It does not count for the vow because Ramadan is a restricted time in which it is not valid to fast anything else. And it does not count for Ramadan because he did not intend it for Ramadan. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.

إنما الأعمال بالنيات، وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى

Sahih al-Bukhari 1

Yes.

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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