Can you make up missed fasts? How do you make up for fasting? How to make up fast in islam? What are the rules on making up missed fasts?
There is a consensus that those who do not fast for one or more days of Ramadan should make up for them. It may occur due to illness, travel, menstruation, postpartum bleeding, and similar excuses, or by intentionally or mistakenly abandoning the intention.[10] The evidence is the following verse: “But whoever of you is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days.”[11] This verse means that those who are sick or traveling but cannot fast should fast for the same number of days to make them up.
In a hadith narrated by Aisha, the following is stated, “During our menses in the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw) we were commanded to make up the abandoned fast, but were commanded to make up the abandoned prayer in the time of the Prophet.”[12]
A person who does not fast in Ramadan without an excuse becomes a sinner. This is because the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever does not fast one day in Ramadan without having a concession allowing that, fasting for a lifetime will not make up for that.”[13]
According to the Ḥanafis and the Malikis, just like making up the Ramadan fast, it is required to make up the atonement, votive, or voluntary fasts that were started and broken untimely. While the Shafiʿis do not consider it necessary to make up for a supererogatory fast that was started but not completed, the Malikis consider it necessary only to make up for a voluntary fast that is broken intentionally.
Making up Ramadan fasting is possible for a lifetime, with or without an excuse. According to the Shafiʿis, it should be made up until the next Ramadan. Otherwise, both making it up and monetary compensation (fidya) are required after the month of Ramadan.
It is not appropriate to fast on prohibited days such as Eid days, on days specified for a votive fasting day, and on the days of Ramadan. This is because these days do not accept any fast other than the fasts allocated to them.
There is no requirement for these days to be in a row or to make haste to make up the Ramadan fasting. A person can fast on separate or consecutive days if he or she wishes. This is because the Qur’anic verse that states compensatory fasting has absolute meaning.[14]
Is it permissible for the guardian of a dead person to perform the make-up fasts in place of a deceased person?
There are two situations for a person who owes a Ramadan fasting:
1) According to the majority of jurists if the fasting person dies before he can make up his missed fasts due to an excuse such as time constraint, illness, travel, excessive old age, or permanent illness, this fasting debt is deemed to have been waived. This is because he has no fault in the emergence of this impossibility. The responsibility of these fasts will be dropped without any requirement, as in the case of pilgrimage. They do not have to be made up either because there was no time and opportunity to fulfill them.
2) If the person who owes fasting dies after he has had the opportunity to make up for his fasts, his guardian cannot fast for him. It is not permissible to do this either while he is alive or after death. Abdullah Ibn Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Whoever dies owing to the fasts of a month, one poor person should be fed on his behalf for each day.”[15]
According to the Ḥanafis and the Malikis, if the deceased person has left a will regarding the payment of monetary compensation for the days he could not fast, his guardian gives half a ṣāʿ (in the amount of fidya) dates or barley to a poor person for each day because the deceased was incapable of fasting in the last part of his life, so he is considered like an old person.[16]
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ilmiḥal) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications