What Is Required To Do If A Person Starts Fasting In Ramadan But Gives Up In The Following Days?

What is required to do if a person starts fasting in Ramadan but gives up in the following days?

Each day’s fasting in Ramadan is a separate worship itself. That is why one needs to make intention for each day separately. Accordingly, nullification of one day’s fasting does not harm the validity of other days.

In this regard, one who starts to fast in Ramadan and stops to fast in the following days without a valid excuse needs to perform qada only for unobserved days; kaffarah is not required. Because kaffarah is not the punishment for not observing fast but for nullifying it intentionally.

However, not observing Ramadan fast without a valid excuse is a great sin and one needs to repent for it in addition to performing qada. Besides, the thawab (spiritual reward) for fasting after Ramadan is not equal to that of Ramadan fasting (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, III, 377). On one occasion, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said that unobservind a day of fasting in Ramadan without any valid excuse cannot be recovered even one fasts for the whole year (Abu Dawud, Sawm, 38; see. Bukhari, Sawm, 29).

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS