Can Missed Fasts Be Combined with Kaffara, or Delayed to a Later Time?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
I need to fast for 60 days as expiation for marital relations during Ramadan and also make up 53-54 missed fasts due to menstruation. Can I combine these intentions?
Is it permissible to delay the expiation fasts until later in the year? I initially fed 60 people, thinking it fulfilled the kaffara—does this count, or must I still fast for 60 days?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
No, you can’t join intentions between making up fasts and expiation fasts. [Shurunbuali, Nur al-Idah]
This is because the expiation fasts are an additional debt owed to Allah, Most High, that has to be paid on its own in addition to the missed fasts.
You should first make up the fasts missed for menstruation and then perform the expiation fasts.
Please see:
- Years of Missed Fasts and Expiation (Kaffara)
- Can the Intention of Making Up Fast and Missed Fasts Be Combined?
Delay
The general basis with duties is that they are to be taken care of as soon as reasonably possible and without undue delay, except if you have a reasonable excuse to do the contrary.
Please see: Delaying an Expiation Fast
It is not valid to perform an expiation (kaffara) by feeding people if one is able to do so by fasting. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching for ways to learn Islam reliably and was disappointed at the answers he found locally.
Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.
He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
