My mother fell ill last year during Ramadan and did not complete the month of Ramadan due to her illness, then Allah took her soul on her sickbed, and she was unable to make up the days she missed.
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The questioner : A questioner says: Your Eminence, the Shaykh, I have a mother who fell ill last year during Ramadan and did not complete the month of Ramadan due to her illness, then Allah took her soul on her sickbed, and she was unable to make up the days she missed. What is required of her, and what should I do regarding this fasting that she did not complete?
The Shaykh : If this sick woman, when Ramadan entered, was suffering from an illness from which recovery was not expected, then no fasting is performed on her behalf; rather, one poor person is fed for each day. This is because a person who is ill with an illness from which recovery is not expected has one poor person fed on his behalf for each day. The method of feeding is, for example, if the first ten days pass, you provide ten poor people with dinner. If the second ten days pass, you provide ten poor people, different from the first group, with dinner. If the third ten days pass, you provide ten poor people, different from the first two groups, with dinner, until you complete thirty poor people for thirty days.
And if you do not do this, then you divide the sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) among four people for four days. If these four people are in one house, you give them the sa' all together. If it happens that there are eight people in one house, you give them two sa' for eight days, and so on.
As for if the illness that befell her in Ramadan was one from which recovery was expected, but it intensified in her day after day until Allah took her soul—and the discussion is with the questioner who is asking about a woman—then in this case, no fasting is performed on her behalf, and no feeding is done on her behalf. No feeding is done on her behalf because her illness was one from which recovery was expected, and no fasting is performed on her behalf because it was obligatory for her to make up other days, but she did not reach those days; rather, she died.
However, if she recovered from her illness and was able to fast, but she thought that the days ahead were long, and then Allah decreed that she died, then fasting is performed on her behalf. This is because she was able to make up the fasting but did not do so, so she falls under the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 1147 So the issue here has how many cases? Three cases.
The first case: That the sick person is one from whom recovery is not expected, meaning recovery from his illness is not expected, such as cancer and the like. So what is the ruling? It is obligatory for him to feed one poor person for each day.
The second case: That the illness is a mild illness from which recovery is expected, but it intensified in her gradually until she died, or it intensified in the sick person gradually until he died. So what is the ruling? No feeding and no fasting.
The third case: That the sick person, after Ramadan ended, was healed by Allah, but he was negligent, and the days passed while he was able to fast, and then he died before he fasted. Then fasting is performed on his behalf; his guardian fasts on his behalf, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 1147 And if none of his guardians fast, then one poor person is fed on his behalf for each day.
The Shaykh : If this sick woman, when Ramadan entered, was suffering from an illness from which recovery was not expected, then no fasting is performed on her behalf; rather, one poor person is fed for each day. This is because a person who is ill with an illness from which recovery is not expected has one poor person fed on his behalf for each day. The method of feeding is, for example, if the first ten days pass, you provide ten poor people with dinner. If the second ten days pass, you provide ten poor people, different from the first group, with dinner. If the third ten days pass, you provide ten poor people, different from the first two groups, with dinner, until you complete thirty poor people for thirty days.
And if you do not do this, then you divide the sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) among four people for four days. If these four people are in one house, you give them the sa' all together. If it happens that there are eight people in one house, you give them two sa' for eight days, and so on.
As for if the illness that befell her in Ramadan was one from which recovery was expected, but it intensified in her day after day until Allah took her soul—and the discussion is with the questioner who is asking about a woman—then in this case, no fasting is performed on her behalf, and no feeding is done on her behalf. No feeding is done on her behalf because her illness was one from which recovery was expected, and no fasting is performed on her behalf because it was obligatory for her to make up other days, but she did not reach those days; rather, she died.
However, if she recovered from her illness and was able to fast, but she thought that the days ahead were long, and then Allah decreed that she died, then fasting is performed on her behalf. This is because she was able to make up the fasting but did not do so, so she falls under the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone dies in a state (that he had to complete) some fasts, his heir must fast on his behalf.
من مات وعليه صيام صام عنه وليهThe first case: That the sick person is one from whom recovery is not expected, meaning recovery from his illness is not expected, such as cancer and the like. So what is the ruling? It is obligatory for him to feed one poor person for each day.
The second case: That the illness is a mild illness from which recovery is expected, but it intensified in her gradually until she died, or it intensified in the sick person gradually until he died. So what is the ruling? No feeding and no fasting.
The third case: That the sick person, after Ramadan ended, was healed by Allah, but he was negligent, and the days passed while he was able to fast, and then he died before he fasted. Then fasting is performed on his behalf; his guardian fasts on his behalf, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):