Is it possible to perform fasting later as qada?
I became a Muslim several months ago. I worship secretly. I am a student and I live in a Christian country with a Christian family.
It is not possible for me to tell them about it. They will not accept it; and the consequences will be terrible. Ramadan begins in less than a month and the issue of fasting worries me.
I live with my family and it is not possible for me to fast. My question is: Is it possible to perform fasting later as qada? I was told that I could donate to a charity organization instead of fasting but I am a student. I have no money. Can you offer me a solution? I am obsessed with this thought and I am very worried.
Dear Brother / Sister,
If fasting is inconvenient under these circumstances, you can intend to perform fasting later as qada; you do not have to fast now.
If it becomes convenient for you to fast in the future, you can perform fasting as qada then.
If you cannot perform fasting as qada and if you have enough money, you can give the poor a certain amount of money (enough money or food to feed a person in a day) for every day that you have not fasted.
If you do not have enough money, we hope you will be forgiven.
An incident about not being able to perform fasting and to give fidyah (atonement for fasting):
A man came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and said:
O Messenger of Allah! I am ruined.
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "What has brought about your ruin?"
"I had a sexual intercourse with my wife (while I was fasting) in Ramadan. Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
"Can you find a slave to set free?"
He said: “No!”
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Can you observe fast for two consecutive months?
He said: “No!”
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Can you provide food for sixty poor people?"
He said: “No!”
Then the Prophet said to him, "Sit down!”
Meanwhile, a big basket which contained dates was brought to the Apostle of Allah (pbuh).
The Prophet (pbuh) searched the man by asking: “Where is the questioner?”
The man answered, “It is me! I am here!” The Prophet (pbuh) said:
"Give these dates in charity.”
The man said: Am I to give to one who is poorer than me? I swear by Allah that there is no family poorer than mine between the two lava plains of Medina.
Thereuponi the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) laughed and said:
“Then go and give it to your family to eat!”
(Bukhari, Sawm: 29, 31; Muslim, Siyam: 81; Muwatta, Siyam: 28; Abu Dawud, Sawm: 37; Tirmidhi, Sawm: 28)
Questions on Islam
- Why should a woman who menstruates perform fasting as qada later since she does not perform prayers as qada?
- In what cases can prayers be left to be performed later as qada?
- Are Sunnah prayers and witr prayers that are missed performed later as qada? How should one make niyyah if he performs the morning prayer after the sunrise and before noon?
- What a fasting person should do as a Kaffarah (Atonement) when he/she does one of the things that invalidate the fast?
- Can prayers be skipped due to illness, to be performed later as qada? Did the Prophet (pbuh) perform prayers when he was ill?
- What a fasting person should do as a Kaffarah (Atonement) when he/she does one of the things that invalidate the fast?
- If a person becomes insane or loses his memory, is it necessary for him to perform the prayers he has missed in that period later as qada?
- Nafila (supererogatory) Fasting
- When we need to travel in Ramadan, should we break our fast (before due time) or should we continue?
- When we need to travel in Ramadan, should we break our fast (before due time) or should we continue?
