FASTING, QURBANI AND ISLAMIC ISSUES FAQ

Fasting
Q. Is fasting obligatory?
A. The only type of fasting which is obligatory is that during Ramadhan for those who are able, or the making up of missed Ramadhan fasts for those who are able. For a list of those types of people who do not have to fast see below.
Q. What are the valid reasons for not fasting?
A. A valid reason is only needed for missing an obligatory fast such as during Ramadhan. Some examples of the types of people excused are:
    Those who are ill or on a journey.
    Pregnant or suckling mothers.
    Those who are weak due to old age.
    Those suffering from long term illness that would be made worse by fasting, such as certain types of diabetes.
Q. What if I miss fast?
A. If you miss a non-obligatory fast there is no harm and typically the fast cannot be made up at a later date.
Missed fasts during Ramadhan are of two types:
    A person has not kept the fast due to a valid reason (see above).
    A person has deliberately not kept the fast or broken their fast without a valid reason.
In the case of (1) there is no sin upon the person, but they should either make up the missed days as soon as they are able, or if they are not able they should offer fidyah (see below). In doing so the person will receive the same reward as the one who fasted, insha'Allah.
In the case of (2) the person has committed a sin for which he should repent. In addition, the person must fast for two consecutive months with no break in between. If one is absolutely not able to do that kaffarah must be offered (see below).
Q. What is fidyah?
A. Fidyah is a way for those who are not able to fast due to age, long term illness etc. to share in the reward of fasting, and is obligatory upon them if they can afford it.
The fidyah is to feed a poor person for each day of fasting missed. The scholars have said it is sufficient to provide a single poor person with two meals for every day missed, or to feed lots of people a meal on a single day.
Each meal costs should be calculated based on how much you feed yourself with (e.g 300) or more as your case maybe and thus the fidyah for each day of fasting missed is (2*300) . Thus, if one missed 30 days of fasting during Ramadhan due to long term illness one should pay (30*300) in fidyah.
You can make a fidyah payment here.
Q. What is kaffarah?
A. Kaffarah is the expiation that must be offered if one deliberately does not fast or breaks a fast in the month of Ramadhan without a valid reason.
In such a case a person is liable to fast for two month continuously with no break between. If one cannot perform this fast due to valid reasons then a person must feed (the equivalent of) 60 poor persons two meals.
Each meal costs (18000) and thus the cost of the kaffarah payment is (18000 × 2 × 60 = 2160000)approx.
You can make a kaffarah payment here.
Q. How is fidyah / kaffarah spent?
A. Muslim Hands will ensure that your fidyah or kaffarah is spent correctly -- feeding poor and needy people.
Qurbani
Q. What is qurbani?
A. Qurbani is a sacrifice that is offered at the time of Eid al-Adha to show gratitude towards Allah (swt) and to provide for the poor and needy.
The Prophet Muhammad (saws) was once asked by his Companions: "O Prophet of Allah! What is this qurbani?" He replied, "It is the Sunnah of your father Ibrahim (as)." (Hadith - Ibn Majah)
Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an: "It is neither their flesh nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur'an 22:37)
Qurbani has been performed from the time of Ibrahim (as) and commemorates also Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, who was replaced by an animal at the time of sacrifice.
Q. What is the difference between qurbani and udhiyah?
A. There is no difference between the two. Udhiyah is an Arabic term for the sacrifice and qurbani is the term used in Urdu and various other languages. We use the word qurbani as it is the better known of the two amongst UK Muslims.
Q. Is qurbani obligatory?
A. The qurbani sacrifice is obligatory on sane male or female Muslims above the age of puberty who hold a minimal level of wealth.
Q. Which animals can be sacrificed?
A. Qurbani animals are goats, sheep, cattle and camels, male or female. No other type of animals are allowed for qurbani. In addition, the animals should be in good health and above a certain age: one year for goats and sheep, two years for cattle and five years for camels.
Q. What are qurbani shares?
A. Qurbani animals are considered to have 'shares,' where a single share is sufficient for performing the qurbani. Sheep and goats consist a single share, whereas cattle and camels consist of seven shares.
Therefore to perform a qurbani for a single person one must either sacrifice a sheep or goat, or seven people must together purchase a cow or camel and share the sacrifice. The reward in both instances is the same.
Q. What happens to the qurbani sacrifice?
A. Ideally the meat from the qurbani sacrifice should be shared between one's own family, friends and the poor. It is very difficult to perform a qurbani sacrifice in most western countries, and there are also relatively few poor persons, so it is permissible to pay for a sacrifice to be performed on one's behalf in another country, and for all the meat to be distributed to the poor.
Muslim Hands will perform the qurbani sacrifice in a country of your choosing (or where most needed) and will distribute all the meat to the poor and needy.
Q. How much does a qurbani cost?
A. As a qurbani involves the purchase of an animal costs vary from country to country.
Q. How can I donate a qurbani?
A. You can donate a qurbani to a nearby mosque or any central mosque around you.
Q. Must I do anything special if I intend to offer a sacrifice?
A. If one intends to perform a qurbani sacrifice then they should refrain from cutting their hair or nails, or removing parts of the skin, during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah.

PAYMENT (FIDYA) FOR NOT MAKING UP MISSED FASTS ON TIME

Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
Question:
 I have the following questions about the fidya that must be paid if a woman does not make up the fasting days she missed during Ramadan before the next Ramadan:
 1.      What is the fidya that she must pay, if any?
2.      Is it additive (i.e., does it accumulate from year to year)?
3.      Can she feed all the people on one day at a big feast?
4.      What qualifies as an excuse for not making up these days?  For example, if one never knew that it was obligatory to make up missed fasts before the next Ramadan despite being raised Muslim, does one still have make them up?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
Introduction
According to the Shafi`i school, if one does not fast some days during Ramadan, it is obligatory to make up these missed fasts before the next Ramadan arrives, regardless of whether these fasts were missed with a valid excuse (e.g. menstruation, travel, sickness, etc.) or without a valid excuse.  If one does not make them up before the next Ramadan, one is sinful and must pay a "mudd"? (a volumetric measure defined below) of food to someone poor (faqeer) or short of money (miskeen) in addition to making up the missed fasts (I`anatu'l-Talibin, 2.242; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 3.445-446).
Imam Daraqutni and Imam Bayhaqi (Allah be pleased with them) have related the following hadith from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
Whoever lives to meet Ramadan, does not fast because of an illness, then regains his health and does not make up [the missed fasts] until another Ramadan should fast [the Ramadan] that he has reached, then make up what he owes, and then feed someone short of money [miskeen] for every day [he missed].
Both Imam Daraqutni and Imam Bayhaqi (Allah be pleased with them) said this hadith was weak (da`if), but Imam Ramli has mentioned that it has been narrated with sound (sahih) chains of transmission as a statement of a companion (a mawquf hadith).  All this is also strengthened by the fact that six companions gave this fatwa and no one objected to them (Hashiyat al-Sharqawi, 1.413).
Q1.  What is the fidya that must be paid?
One must give one "mudd" of the main staple of one's area to either someone who is poor (faqeer) or short of money (miskeen) (those who are considered poor or short of money are defined in Reliance, h8.8, h8.11).  A "mudd" is the amount one can hold in both hands when cupped together.  It is estimated in the Reliance as 0.51 liters (Reliance, i1.33).  The type of food one gives varies from place to place.  One must pay whatever food is considered the main staple in the area where one lives.  This could be wheat, barley, rice or something else (al-Minhaj al-Qawim + al-Hawashi al-Madaniyya, 2.194).
One mudd needs to be given for every day of fasting that one delayed making up (al-Minhaj al-Qawim, 2.194).
Q2.  Does the fidya accumulate from year to year?
Yes, it does.  One must pay one mudd per day per year (I`anatu'l-Talibin, 2.242).  For example, if a woman missed six fasts during Ramadan because of menstruation, and she did not make them up until after three more Ramadans had passed, she would have to pay 18 mudds (1 mudd per day per year * 6 days * 3 years = 18 mudd's).
Q3.  Can I feed all the people on one day at a big feast?
Feeding (it`am) a poor person, as Imam Bajuri (Allah have mercy on him) explains in the section on expiating (kaffara) for fast days that one has invalidated, means giving him ownership (tamleek) of the food.  It is not sufficient to cook the food and then invite him to one's house for lunch or dinner (Hashiyat al-Bajuri, 1.319).  Rather, the poor person must be given possession of the food (e.g. a bag of wheat) and then he can do what he wants with it (e.g. eat it, sell it, give it away to someone else, give it back to you and ask you to cook it for him, etc.).  As such, it would not be sufficient to invite the people to a feast.  One would have to give them the actual staple food.
It is valid, however, to give everyone the food the same day.  It suffices to give multiple mudd's to one person (so one could calculate everything one owes and give everything to one person).  However, it is not acceptable to divide a single mudd between multiple people (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 3.446).
Q4.  What qualifies as an excuse for not making up these days?  For example, if one never knew that it was obligatory to make up missed fasts before the next Ramadan despite being raised Muslim, does one still have make them up?
Just like missed prayers, there is no excuse for not making up the fast days.  Obligatory fasts must be made up.  They are a debt one owes to Allah, just like missed prayers.
There are, however, excuses for not paying the expiatory payment (fidya).  The fuqaha mention that someone who was not aware that it was obligatory to make up missed fasts before the next Ramadan does not have to perform the expiation (fidya), even if he or she lives among scholars.  Non-scholars (`awamm) are excused for being ignorant of minor, subtle points such as these even if they live in Muslim lands among scholars.  If, however, one knew that it was obligatory to make up the fasts before the next Ramadan, but was not aware that one had to make an expiatory payment (fidya), one would not be considered excused (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 3.445).
So in the case mentioned in the question, you would have to make up the missed fast days, but you would not have to pay the expiatory payment (fidya).


And Allah knows best.