❀ Concession of Fidya for One Unable to Fast ❀
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
"An elderly person is permitted to leave the fast and feed one poor person for each missed day. There is no need for him to make up the fasts."
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Dārquṭnī: 2/205; Ḥākim: 1/404]
◉ Imām Dārquṭnī and Imām Ḥākim both graded it authentic according to the conditions of Bukhārī.
◉ Shaykh Ṣubḥī Ḥallāq and Shaykh Ḥāzim ʿAlī Qāḍī also declared it authentic.
[Taʿlīq ʿalā Sabil al-Salām: 4/145, 2/887]
✔ This proves that an elderly person who has no hope of regaining strength, and likewise a chronically ill person, may give fidya (compensation) in place of fasting—by feeding a needy person for every missed fast.
Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ رضي الله عنه said:
When the verse
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ
“…those who are able to fast but with difficulty, a ransom is feeding a poor person…”
[Al-Baqarah: 184]
…was revealed, anyone who wanted to skip the fast could offer fidya. But later, another verse abrogated it.
[Bukhārī: 4507; Muslim: 1145; Abū Dāwūd: 2315; Tirmidhī: 798; Nasāʾī: 4/190]
Muʿādh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه narrates similarly, adding:
"Then Allah made fasting obligatory upon every healthy resident in the verse:
فَمَنْ شَهِدَ مِنْكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ
“…So whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it.”
[Al-Baqarah: 185]
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Abū Dāwūd: 478, 479; Aḥmad: 5/233; Ibn Khuzaymah: 381]
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said:
“The verse وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ is not abrogated. It remains applicable to elderly men and women who are unable to fast; they must feed one poor person for each day."
[Bukhārī: 4505; Nasāʾī: 4/190; Ṭabarī: 2/81; Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr: 11388; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7577; Dārquṭnī: 2/205; Ḥākim: 1/440; Bayhaqī: 4/270]
According to one narration, Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهم said:
“The same ruling applies to pregnant and nursing women.”
[Dārquṭnī: 2/207 — Graded Ṣaḥīḥ by Imām Dārquṭnī]
✔ (Jumhūr — Majority): Feeding the poor is obligatory.
✔ (Mālik رحمه الله): Feeding is meritorious (mustaḥabb), not obligatory.
[Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 2/247; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 2/177; Qawānīn al-Aḥkām al-Sharʿiyyah: p. 143]
◉ One narration states the fidya is half a ṣāʿ (approximately 1.25 kg) of wheat per day.
[Dārquṭnī: 2/207 — Declared Ṣaḥīḥ by Imām Dārquṭnī]
Imām al-Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī said:
"The word ‘Shaykh’ in the narration refers to a person who is physically unable to fast."
[Sabil al-Salām: 2/890]
✔ Elderly individuals or the chronically ill—who have no hope of recovery—are permitted to pay fidya by feeding a needy person for each missed fast.
✔ No qadā’ (make-up fast) is required for them.
✔ Pregnant and nursing women fall under the same ruling, as per some companions.
✔ The fidya is typically half a ṣāʿ of food per day, and majority of scholars deem it obligatory.
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Permission of Fidya for the One Unable to Fast
◈ ➊ Exemption for the Elderly:
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrates:
"An elderly person is permitted to leave the fast and feed one poor person for each missed day. There is no need for him to make up the fasts."
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Dārquṭnī: 2/205; Ḥākim: 1/404]◉ Imām Dārquṭnī and Imām Ḥākim both graded it authentic according to the conditions of Bukhārī.
◉ Shaykh Ṣubḥī Ḥallāq and Shaykh Ḥāzim ʿAlī Qāḍī also declared it authentic.
[Taʿlīq ʿalā Sabil al-Salām: 4/145, 2/887]✔ This proves that an elderly person who has no hope of regaining strength, and likewise a chronically ill person, may give fidya (compensation) in place of fasting—by feeding a needy person for every missed fast.
◈ ➋ Early Legal Context:
Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ رضي الله عنه said:
When the verse
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ
“…those who are able to fast but with difficulty, a ransom is feeding a poor person…”
[Al-Baqarah: 184]…was revealed, anyone who wanted to skip the fast could offer fidya. But later, another verse abrogated it.
[Bukhārī: 4507; Muslim: 1145; Abū Dāwūd: 2315; Tirmidhī: 798; Nasāʾī: 4/190]◈ ➌ Affirmation of the New Ruling:
Muʿādh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه narrates similarly, adding:
"Then Allah made fasting obligatory upon every healthy resident in the verse:
فَمَنْ شَهِدَ مِنْكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ
“…So whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it.”
[Al-Baqarah: 185] [Ṣaḥīḥ: Abū Dāwūd: 478, 479; Aḥmad: 5/233; Ibn Khuzaymah: 381]◈ ➍ Non-Abrogation View:
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said:
“The verse وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ is not abrogated. It remains applicable to elderly men and women who are unable to fast; they must feed one poor person for each day."
[Bukhārī: 4505; Nasāʾī: 4/190; Ṭabarī: 2/81; Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr: 11388; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7577; Dārquṭnī: 2/205; Ḥākim: 1/440; Bayhaqī: 4/270]◈ Same Ruling for Pregnant & Nursing Women:
According to one narration, Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهم said:
“The same ruling applies to pregnant and nursing women.”
[Dārquṭnī: 2/207 — Graded Ṣaḥīḥ by Imām Dārquṭnī]❖ Disagreement on Obligation of Feeding:
✔ (Jumhūr — Majority): Feeding the poor is obligatory.
✔ (Mālik رحمه الله): Feeding is meritorious (mustaḥabb), not obligatory.
[Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 2/247; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 2/177; Qawānīn al-Aḥkām al-Sharʿiyyah: p. 143]❖ Fidya Quantity:
◉ One narration states the fidya is half a ṣāʿ (approximately 1.25 kg) of wheat per day.
[Dārquṭnī: 2/207 — Declared Ṣaḥīḥ by Imām Dārquṭnī]❖ Clarification on the Word “Shaykh”:
Imām al-Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī said:
"The word ‘Shaykh’ in the narration refers to a person who is physically unable to fast."
[Sabil al-Salām: 2/890]
Summary:
✔ Elderly individuals or the chronically ill—who have no hope of recovery—are permitted to pay fidya by feeding a needy person for each missed fast.
✔ No qadā’ (make-up fast) is required for them.
✔ Pregnant and nursing women fall under the same ruling, as per some companions.
✔ The fidya is typically half a ṣāʿ of food per day, and majority of scholars deem it obligatory.
