The ruling on one who left fasting due to ignorance of its ruling
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Your Eminence! We received a letter from the Holy City of Madinah from the sender... One of the sisters (M. M.) says in her letter: Knowledge was scarce in the old days, and scholars were also few. My family told me that the young woman did not fast in Ramadan except for the first ten days. I do not know whether she fasted the first ten days or the entire month. Is it obligatory for me to make up the fasts or not? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with the best reward.
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his companions, and whoever follows his guidance.
As for what follows: There is no doubt that fasting Ramadan is an obligatory duty (fard) upon every accountable Muslim, male and female, and it is one of the five pillars of Islam. If the questioner did not fast Ramadan, or did not fast the last twenty days of Ramadan after reaching puberty, then she must make up the fasts. Puberty for a woman is determined by four things:
1- It is determined by menstruation.
2- It is determined by completing fifteen years of age.
3- It is determined by the growth of coarse hair around the private parts or the pubic area, known as the hair.
4- It is determined by a fourth thing, which is the emission of fluid.
Either while awake, the emission of semen due to desire, or while sleeping, which is wet dreams.
If one of these four occurs, the woman becomes accountable, and prayer, fasting, and Hajj (if she has the ability) become obligatory upon her. If the questioner left any part of Ramadan after reaching puberty, she must make it up. It is not necessary to make them up in order; she may make them up even if she does so separately.
She must also feed one poor person for each day, according to the most correct opinion of the scholars, for her delay in making up that fasting. This is a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of dates, rice, wheat, barley, raisins, or other staple food of the country.
She must also repent and seek forgiveness for the delay that occurred on her part, for delay is a sin. Delaying the fast from Ramadan is a sin. So she must repent and seek forgiveness for that. Repentance, if it is sincere and earnest, erases what came before it. Yes.
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his companions, and whoever follows his guidance.
As for what follows: There is no doubt that fasting Ramadan is an obligatory duty (fard) upon every accountable Muslim, male and female, and it is one of the five pillars of Islam. If the questioner did not fast Ramadan, or did not fast the last twenty days of Ramadan after reaching puberty, then she must make up the fasts. Puberty for a woman is determined by four things:
1- It is determined by menstruation.
2- It is determined by completing fifteen years of age.
3- It is determined by the growth of coarse hair around the private parts or the pubic area, known as the hair.
4- It is determined by a fourth thing, which is the emission of fluid.
Either while awake, the emission of semen due to desire, or while sleeping, which is wet dreams.
If one of these four occurs, the woman becomes accountable, and prayer, fasting, and Hajj (if she has the ability) become obligatory upon her. If the questioner left any part of Ramadan after reaching puberty, she must make it up. It is not necessary to make them up in order; she may make them up even if she does so separately.
She must also feed one poor person for each day, according to the most correct opinion of the scholars, for her delay in making up that fasting. This is a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of dates, rice, wheat, barley, raisins, or other staple food of the country.
She must also repent and seek forgiveness for the delay that occurred on her part, for delay is a sin. Delaying the fast from Ramadan is a sin. So she must repent and seek forgiveness for that. Repentance, if it is sincere and earnest, erases what came before it. Yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.