If one dies in Ramadan, is expiation obligatory upon him, or does his guardian fast on his behalf?

The questioner : If the month of Ramadan comes upon a Muslim who is ill with an illness that prevents him from fasting, and then he dies and goes to his Lord, is expiation obligatory upon his heirs, or what is the ruling?

The Shaykh : There is no explicit text established on this matter, even though there is his statement (peace and blessings be upon him) in the two Sahihs: The Shafi'is adopted this view and made 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 hadith I mentioned earlier: One of its narrators is 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, who interpreted this hadith as applying to fasting a vow. So if a person vowed to fast a day or more and then did not fulfill it, the aforementioned hadith applies: his guardian fasts on his behalf. As for the fasting that Allah the Exalted directly obligated upon the Muslims for their purification and cleansing, the fundamental principle in Islam applies here: whoever purifies himself purifies himself for his own sake. But if a person imposed an obligation on himself that Allah did not impose on him, in the form of a vow, then the aforementioned hadith applies to that. Explicit hadiths have come regarding this: a woman asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) about her sister or brother who died with a vow of fasting upon him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So explicit hadiths came in the question and answer regarding the fasting of a vow, and 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, who is one of the narrators of this hadith as we said, interpreted it as applying to the fasting of a vow. This is what we see, and Allah knows best.

The questioner : Meaning, if he dies and did not... is the fasting dropped from him?

The Shaykh : First, he did not say voluntary fasting; meaning, he died in Ramadan, that is what I understood. Now, we divide the previous question and answer into two parts. The first part is a man who was ill in Ramadan, died in Ramadan, and had days of Ramadan remaining upon him. My previous statement applies to this case.