بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Today, we start a new series entitled “Some words of advice”. I’ve noticed that there are certain issues that keep recurring amongst people that need to be pointed out.
This series will focus on how to deal with those issues. There will be some fiqh (jurisprudence) when required but this is not a fiqh-oriented series, rather it is more advice-oriented. Each part will be on a specific topic and unrelated to the other parts. The only thing that they have in common is that many Muslims seem to be dealing with these issues.
Make Allah make it beneficial to all the readers.
This part, the first in this series, will focus on making up missed fasts.
The obligation of making up missed fasts
Fasting in Ramadan is a pillar of Islam, therefore one needs to complete the entire 29 or 30 days of Ramadan. If one is ill or travelling and misses a fast, they are required to make it up after Ramadan. The menstruating women and those in postpartum bleeding cannot fast either, therefore they too are required to make up those fasts after Ramadan. For all these groups, these fasts should be made up before the next Ramadan.
There are some people who are not required to make up their fasts e.g. very old people who can no longer fast or an illness where there is no hope of recovery, instead they need to give a fidyah (ransom).
What happens if a person does not make up those fasts before Ramadan without a legitimate excuse (like being very ill for that whole year)? Well, he or she is sinful with regards to that. This person is still required to make up those fasts and may also have to feed a poor person a day. Please refer to this article for more details.
Sadly, many people take sinning very lightly without realising that the prohibited matters incur the anger of Allah and make them deserving of His punishment.
Many people also do not realise that they will be held accountable in the Hereafter for all those missed fasts.
عَنْ حُرَيْثِ بْنِ قَبِيصَةَ، قَالَ قَدِمْتُ الْمَدِينَةَ فَقُلْتُ اللَّهُمَّ يَسِّرْ لِي جَلِيسًا صَالِحًا . قَالَ فَجَلَسْتُ إِلَى أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ فَقُلْتُ إِنِّي سَأَلْتُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يَرْزُقَنِي جَلِيسًا صَالِحًا فَحَدِّثْنِي بِحَدِيثٍ سَمِعْتَهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ أَنْ يَنْفَعَنِي بِهِ فَقَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ : إِنَّ أَوَّلَ مَا يُحَاسَبُ بِهِ الْعَبْدُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ عَمَلِهِ صَلاَتُهُ فَإِنْ صَلُحَتْ فَقَدْ أَفْلَحَ وَأَنْجَحَ وَإِنْ فَسَدَتْ فَقَدْ خَابَ وَخَسِرَ فَإِنِ انْتَقَصَ مِنْ فَرِيضَتِهِ شَيْءٌ قَالَ الرَّبُّ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ انْظُرُوا هَلْ لِعَبْدِي مِنْ تَطَوُّعٍ فَيُكَمَّلَ بِهَا مَا انْتَقَصَ مِنَ الْفَرِيضَةِ ثُمَّ يَكُونُ سَائِرُ عَمَلِهِ عَلَى ذَلِكَ
Huraith bin Qabisah narrated: “I arrived in Al-Madinah and said: ‘O Allah! Facilitate me to be in a righteous gathering.’” He said: “I sat with Abu Hurairah (radiallahu anhu) and said: ‘Indeed I asked Allah to provide me with a righteous gathering. So narrate a hadith to me which you heard from Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) so that perhaps Allah would cause me to benefit from it.’ He said: ‘I heard Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) say: “Indeed the first deed by which a servant will be called to account on the Day of Resurrection is his salah (prayer). If it is complete, he is successful and saved, but if it is defective, he has failed and lost. So if something is deficient in his obligatory (prayers) then the Lord, Mighty and Sublime says: ‘Look! Are there any voluntary (prayers) for my worshipper?’ So with them, what was deficient in his obligatory (prayers) will be completed. Then the rest of his deeds will be treated like that.” [Jaami At-Tirmidhi, Hadeeth No. 413. Graded “sahih” (authentic) by Al-Albani.]
The above hadeeth points to the fact that missed obligatory fasts, whether Ramadan ones or due to a vow, will be asked about on the Last Day.
Now, many people are very lax about this despite having a lot of fasts to make up. Generally speaking, women are usually the ones with a lot of fasts to make up because of menstruation and giving birth. For many women, the amount of missed fasts can easily number in the hundreds.
One of the reasons that the fasts add up is that parents don’t insist that their children (who have attained puberty) make up their fasts. So those fasts add up over time.
Also, many women don’t realise that they have to make up those fasts. When they find out that they have to, they get a shock.
This post is a reminder to those women and men that they need to repent to Allah and start making up those fasts.
My story
The topic of making up fasts is one that is very close to my heart because I had the same issue years ago. I barely made up missed fasts as a teenager and was shocked to realise that I was obligated to make them up years later in 2005. I estimated the amount of fasts that I had to make up and it came up to around a 100. I started to make them up but it was difficult because I used to suffer from acid reflux and migraines – both of which make fasting difficult.
I used to make up that year’s fasts and a bit more every year. I decided to stop doing the Shawwal fasts until I had made up my old Ramadan ones. The reason for this was because fasting was very difficult for me. Each fast was like climbing a mountain and used to tire me out, so I had to prioritise the obligatory fasts i.e. the missed ones. As the Shawwal fasts are an addition to the Ramadan ones, it was not possible to combine the intentions in the same fast.
I also made up fasts on the first nine days of Dhul Hijjah (including Arafah) and Ashurah. These are days of voluntary fasting but obligatory fasting is more important so I decided to fast the make up ones on those days but also hoped for the reward of fasting on those days.
Those years were pure torture. I would get very scared wondering what I would say to Allah on the Last Day when asked about my pending fasts. It was something that I thought about endlessly and caused me a great deal of stress. The fact that I was a person who always fell ill and for who fasting was very difficult, made matters worse.
One of the things that kept me going was a conversation that I had with a classmate. It was a Quran memorisation class held after Asr and I was fasting that day. She pointed out that my face didn’t look so good. I told her I was making up a fast. I recall her then telling me about her own story about making up all her fasts and how it was like a mountain on her back. She used to scratch each day of fasting of a paper one by one. She had eventually finished – which motivated me to keep going.
In 2017, I had about 45-50 fasts still left so I decided to make fasting the focus of that year. I couldn’t fast and do much of anything else so I decided to go for classes 3 times a week and fast the remaining 4 days.
I’ll always remember the first month that I started this plan in 2017. On one of those days, I did not feel so good. Right after the adhan of Fajr, I vomited out my entire suhoor. At the time, I thought ‘That was it. I can’t do this.’ I was so tired and just ready to give up. By the Mercy of Allah, I decided to give it one more try – and that worked, alhamdulillah.
When I had about 6 fasts left, I recall attending a lecture when death was being discussed. This time, I didn’t have that feeling of panic upon hearing about death perhaps because my huge load of missed fasts was almost off me.
I made up all my fasts that year, including that year’s missed Ramadan fasts, the last one being on the Day of Ashura. This was amazing given that Ashura has always been my favourite day (and no, I don’t have Jewish ancestry).
I still remember the sun setting on that day. With the Help of Allah, I had completed my most difficult goal – making up my fasts. It had taken 12 years. I couldn’t believe that I had done it because deep down I used to fear dying whilst having pending fasts. I still can’t believe that I made up those fasts. All I can say is “alhamdulillah” (all praise is due to Allah). This was a great blessing from Allah.
To this day, making up those fasts rank as one of my greatest achievements.
The reason I shared the above story was to hopefully encourage other sisters (and maybe brothers) to start making up their missed fasts. I have a feeling that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, with the same issue. Perhaps my story will motivate them to finish making up their fasts the way my classmate’s story motivated me to finish mine.
Advice on how to estimate the amount of missed days
How should you start? Well, first you need to estimate the amount of missed days.
For menstruation, first check how many years you need to make up. When did you attain puberty? Start with the Ramadan after that. Be careful not to just say 2007-2022 is 15 years because there are 16 Ramadans in them. Now count the amount of days missed per Ramadan. If you have no idea, then just refer back to your menstrual cycle. If it is always between 7-10 days, for example, the maximum number of missed fasts can only be 10. Therefore, take that maximum number and multiple by the number of years. In this case, it is 10×16 = 160 fasts.
Some women sometimes menstruate twice in Ramadan, once in the beginning and once at the end. Try to remember if that happened with you and estimate accordingly.
For post partum bleeding, refer back to the year that you gave birth in. Did you give birth in Ramadan or just before it? If it was in Ramadan, then on which date? If it was 12th, then you have days 13-29 or 13-30 to make up. If you are not sure if it was a 29 day month or a 30 day month, take the larger number i.e. 30. If you can’t remember the Islamic date, simply go online and check which Islamic date corresponded to your child’s Gregorian birth date. Sometimes, the day might be one day ahead (different time zones). If so, add one more to make up to account for that fact.
For illness and travel, try your best to estimate how many days you need to make up.
For pregnancy and breast feeding, there is a difference of opinion over whether they need to make up those fasts or feed a poor person per day or do both. Please refer to this article for more information.
So, those who missed fasts due to pregnancy or breastfeeding should first call a person of knowledge and ask them if they need to make up the fasts or feed the poor or do both. If they are required to make up those fasts, then they need to estimate the amount of missed days first.
Once you (the person making up their fasts) have this number in your hands, you need to keep doing dua (supplication) to Allah to help you make up all your fasts and that you don’t die whilst having any pending fasts. Do this until you finish that last fast.
Putting the plan into action
Now, you need to start fasting as soon as possible. You need to start making up the last Ramadan’s fast first.
Look at your schedule. Which days are the easiest for you to fast in? Could you do at least 3-5 fasts per month? Remember that you are allowed to make up fasts on Friday. It is not correct to single out Friday for voluntary fasting but a person who only makes up fasts on Friday due to it being the only day they can (because it may be a holiday for them) does not seem to fall under this prohibition. However, you should refer to a person of knowledge if in doubt.
Can you defer some projects for now and instead focus on fasting? If you are a person in good health, you might not need to. However, if you have health issues, you might have to prioritise fasting over your other work.
What about using your holidays for fasting? Remember, we should be ready to leave some things from this worldly life for the sake of Allah.
Remember that you need to focus on starting and continuing. If you have 200 fasts to make up and you fast 3 days a month, it would be about 30 days a year and take about 7 years. Even if takes 15-20 years to make up those fasts, just do dua and keep going. The more you make up, the less you will be answerable for on the Last Day. Also, if you die whilst actually making up those fasts, you can hope that you might get forgiven because you were actually trying.
What about feeding the poor?
If you are a person of wealth, you can consult a scholar or a mufti, and find out how much is due from you and pay it off by feeding the required amount of poor people, whilst continuing to fast. If you don’t have much wealth, then there is no point in worrying about it at the moment because you cannot afford it anyway. If Allah grants you wealth in the future, you can pay it off at that time, in shaa Allah.
What about those that never fasted Ramadan to begin with?
If the person never fasted Ramadan to begin with, then they still need to make up those fasts, assuming that they used to pray.
If they did not pray at all, then Shaikh Saleh As-Saleh (rahimahullah) pointed out that they were not even Muslims at that time, therefore they don’t have to make up those fasts (meaning those years in which they never prayed). There may be a difference of opinion over this so it is better to directly contact a person of knowledge.
Parting words
This article did not really touch upon the fiqh. I’ll leave that to the reader to research according to their needs.
To all those who have fasts to make up, please start now and don’t stop until you either make them all up or die. If possible, try to get a support system of people who are in the same boat as you.
Take it one fast at a time and keep going. Don’t stop doing dua to make up your fasts until the sun rises on the last day. And remember that last sunset – because you would have indeed completed a great achievement.
May Allah make it easy for you to make up all your fasts.