Fri May 23 2025, 04:34 PM

Spiritual Meditations ( 4 Apr 2023, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Thirty Lessons of Ramadan: 13th Lesson on Rulings of Kaffarah and Fidyah – Part 13

By Mufti Abdul Malik Misbahi, New Age Islam

Translated into English by Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

4 April 2023

If Kaffarah becomes mandatory for someone and he is unable to perform it until the time when another Kaffarah becomes obligatory, then only one Kaffarah will be obligatory for both of them, even if these two Kaffarahs are for two separate Ramadans. Even though the first Kaffarah was not performed, the two Kaffarahs of the broken fasts must be performed separately if the reason for breaking the fast is a sexual act.

It is a condition for the sixty needy people to be adolescents [Baligh] when they are fed under the process of Kaffarah. If small children are fed, it is still vital to feed the adolescent needy [Baligh Miskeen] instead.

While feeding the needy, one should maintain their standard level of living; nevertheless, this does not entail raising it excessively or providing them with dry bread.

There is no harm and the Kaffarah will be correct if the needy people are not consistently fed.

Switching from feeding to supplying grain or paying the price is also acceptable. The amount of grain must match the amount of Fitrah.

Kaffarah will be considered correct even if one needy person is given two meals a day for sixty days, but this circumstance is not regarded favourably; hence it is preferable to feed sixty needy individuals simultaneously.

Rulings of Fidyah

Islamic Shari'ah has made a concession for people who lack the strength to fast, requiring them to pay Fidyah in exchange for fasting. It becomes challenging to fast as a result of the human body becoming weaker in old age. Moreover, the body may not always have the strength to fast owing to illness, in which case they must pay fidyah. Fidyah implies giving two daily meals to a person in need for each fast. Grain or its price can also be given as Fidyah. Fidyah must be the same quantity of grains as Sadaq-e-Fitr.

Someone was required to keep some Qazaa fasts but he could not. At the time of death, he left a will specifying that his assets should be used to pay his Fidyah for the missed fasts. It is required to pay the Fidyah if the total Fidyah of these fasts equals one-third of the remaining assets. Also, if the cost of the Fidyah exceeds the value of one-third of the property, then paying for more than one-third of the property in Fidyah is only permitted when the heir willingly consents to it. But, even in this scenario, the consent of the minor heirs will not be recognised.

It is believed that Allah Almighty will accept the Fidyah and release the deceased from liability for his missed fasts even if the deceased did not leave a will and the heir wilfully pays Fidyah for the missing fasts of the deceased.

It is not valid if the heir keeps fasts or performs the Qazaa prayers on behalf of the deceased.

It is improper to break the fast of Ramadan due to a minor illness and assume he would make up for it later or to pay fidyah and think that the right to fast has been satisfied. Only if it is truly impossible to fast can one choose to forgo the Ramadan fast.

In the Fatawa Razaviyyah, it is stated:

[Translation] Lack of strength is one thing, but a lack of courage is another. Lack of courage is not credible [under the subject in question]. The devil frequently instils in our minds that we will never be able to complete this labour and that if we do, we will die or become ill. When it is done with faith and trust in Allah, He Almighty aids in the action and no damage occurs. At the age of 75, many people fast.

Yes! There may be such feeble persons who are unable to keep fast, even at the age of seventy. Thus, they should stay away from the whispers of the devil and thoroughly verify them. This is just one factor.

Another factor is that some of them do not really have the strength to fast in the summer, but they can fast in the winter. They are also not required to perform Kaffarah. But by making the summertime fasts the Qazaa, they are obligated to keep the fast in the winter.

The third factor is that, while some of these persons cannot regularly fast for a full month [during the summer], they can fast intermittently for one or two days. Thus, it is obligatory to keep as many [Adaa Fasts] as possible [during the summer] and any fasts that turn into Qazaa must be kept during the winters.

The fourth factor is that the young or elderly who is too weak to fast due to an illness is also not permitted to perform Kaffarah; instead, they must wait for the illness to go away. Only if the time of death occurs before recovery will he be required to leave a will for Kaffarah.

In short, the Kaffarah will be carried out when it is impossible to keep the fast in hot weather or in the winter, either continuously or intermittently, and when there is no hope that the Uzr [valid Shari' reason] that forbids the fasting will end.

For instance, since old age is a never-ending condition, an elderly person who has grown too weak from old age to keep fasts separately even in the winter has the right to perform Kaffarah.

He has the option of paying Fidyah or performing Kaffarah daily for each fast, doing so for the entire month in advance, paying it to several fakirs when the month is over, or paying the entire Fidayah or Kaffarah to just one fakir. He is eligible for all of these forms.

(Fatawa Razaviyya, Vol. 4, p. 612)

In the same book, it is also mentioned:

Only Sheikh-e-Faani is permitted to pay Fidyah because of his advanced age, which makes him unable to keep fast and increases his weakness as he gets older. Fidyah has so been ordered exclusively for him. (Fatawa Razaviyya, Vol. 4, p. 206)

(Continued)

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Mufti Abdul Malik Misbahi is the author of multiple books. He has also lectured and held positions such as Mufti, Shaykhul Hadith, president, founder, and director at a number of institutions, including Darul Uloom Ghousia in Hubli, Karnataka, and Darul Uoom Solemaniya Rahmaniya in Bikaner Darul Uloom Reza-e-Mustafa, Bihar, Madrasa Shah Khalid, Vanwa Libo Muslim League, Fiji (near Australia), Madina Educational Society, Rajasthan. He currently holds the positions of Mufti in the Sunni Darul Ifta in the Madina Masjid, General Secretary of the Raza Foundation, Director of the Darain Academy, Founder of the Afkar-e- Raza Institution, and Chief Editor of the Do-Maahi Raza-e-Madina (Urdu, Hindi) in Azadnagar, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.