Can I Give Expiatory Payments Instead of Making up Fasts?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I have been suffering from depression. I am seeing my doctor regularly. I missed many fasts last year and a few fasts a year before. I am worried of days piling. Am I allowed to feed poor people as fidya for my missed fasts instead of waiting to get healthy?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

If your prescribed medication doesn’t allow you to fast, and its daily timings cannot be changed, you have a reasonable excuse to miss the fast and make it up later.

However, you cannot give expiatory payments (fidya) unless you are [normally] both elderly and chronically unable to fast. Thus, all you need to do is make up the fasts. I’d suggest doing so when the days are shorter and it is easier to manage your medication.

Ask Allah Most High for well-being, and to facilitate worship for you in every state.

Please also see: The Complete Guide to Fasting

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.