Key Points

• Fidyah is a charitable compensation for those unable or exempted from fasting.
• Kaffarah is a mandatory expiation for intentionally breaking or invalidating a fast without a valid excuse.
• Fidyah for one missed fast equals feeding one poor person.
• Kaffarah for one invalidated fast equals feeding 60 poor people.
• Fidyah calculation: 1 missed fast × RM 15 ($3.3) = RM 15 ($3.3)
• Kaffarah calculation: 60 people × RM 13 ($3.3) = RM 900 ($198)
• Contributions fulfil your religious obligation while feeding zakat-eligible families.

Campaign Story

The blessed guest of Ramadan is just around the corner, and as we prepare to welcome it, one important responsibility often weighs on the heart: pending fasts from previous Ramadans.

Allah ﷻ reminds us in the Qur’an, “Fasting is for a fixed number of days. And if one of you is sick or on a journey, then an equal number of days are to be made up later. And for those who are unable to fast, there is a compensation: feeding a poor person for each day missed…” (Surah al-Baqarah, 184)

What Is Fidyah?

Fidyah is a charitable compensation for those who are unable or exempted from fasting. If Ramadan enters and a person is unable to fast due to old age or a chronic illness with no hope of recovery, then that person is not obliged to fast. Instead, they must feed one poor person for each day of fasting missed.

1. Those with no hope of recovery from an illness, based on consultation with a qualified doctor, or those who are very elderly. They do not have to make up the fasts that are missed. These people have to give fidyah and feed a poor person for every day of the fast that is missed.
2. Those who are currently ill but have a hope of recovering soon. Such a person can stop fasting and make up for this missed fast later. There is no fidyah due on such a person. 

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

There is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding pregnant and breastfeeding women. A person is advised to follow the opinion of a qualified scholar whom they trust. Many scholars recommend paying fidyah to be on the safe side.

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه said, “If the pregnant woman fears for herself, or the breastfeeding woman fears for her child in Ramadan, then they are to break their fast and in place feed a poor person for each day, and they are not to make up the missed days.” (al-Ṭabarī)

 

 

How We Calculate Fidyah & Kaffarah

Fidyah is to be paid for deliberately missing a fast with a permissible excuse. The amount paid for fidyah for each missed fast is equivalent to feeding one poor person.

Kaffarah is to be paid if a person intentionally breaks or invalidates a fast without a valid excuse. The expiation for one such fast is feeding 60 poor people.

Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه narrated, “While we were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) a man came and said, 'O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I have been ruined.' Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) asked what the matter with him was. He replied, 'I had sexual intercourse with my wife while I was fasting.' Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) asked him, 'Can you afford to manumit a slave?' He replied in the negative. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) asked him, 'Can you fast for two successive months?' He replied in the negative. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, 'Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?' He replied in the negative. The Prophet (ﷺ) kept silent, and while we were in that state, a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ). He asked, 'Where is the questioner?' He replied, 'I (am here).' The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to him), 'Take this (basket of dates) and give it in charity.' The man said, 'Should I give it to a person poorer than I? By Allah, there is no family between its (i.e., Madinah's) two mountains who are poorer than I.' The Prophet (ﷺ) smiled till his premolar teeth became visible and then said, 'Feed your family with it.' (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

The expiation follows a strict order, and one may not move to the next option unless unable to fulfil the first.

Understanding the Measure: Mudd and Saaʿ

• 1 Mudd = approximately 675 grams of staple food.
• 1 Saaʿ = 4 Mudds ≈ 2.04–3 kilograms

The amount of fidyah paid is 1 Mudd of food per missed fast, based on the measure used during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Scholars such as Imam al-Shāfiʿī and Imam Mālik رحمهما الله determined that fidyah is fulfilled by giving 1 Mudd of wheat or staple food per day missed. Taking into account scholarly differences, the Shariah Board of Rumah Zakat states that fidyah is legally fulfilled if one poor person is fed for one day per missed fast.

Fidyah: Number of Fast Missed x RM 15 (Price of 0.675 kg of food) = Amount of Fidyah Due

Kaffarah: 60 Poor People x RM 15 (Price of 0.675 kg of food) = RM 900

RM 15 includes staple food that feeds a poor person 3 meals for 1 day.

Your Impact

By contributing to this campaign:

• You clear your religious obligation with confidence. 
• You feed poor, zakat-eligible families.
• You transform missed fasts into acts of mercy and relief.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever relieves a believer of hardship in this world, Allah will relieve him of hardship on the Day of Resurrection… and Allah continues to help the servant as long as the servant helps his brother.” (Tirmidhī)

You may never meet the family you help. But they will remember you at iftar and outside. And many will raise their hands in dua’ for the one who fed them when they had nothing. Give today. Feed a fasting family in Indonesia.