Choice in Kaffaarah
Question
If a person had intercourse with his wife whilst fasting during the month of Ramadan, is the Kaffaarah fasting for 60 consecutive days? Or, can one feed 60 people even if one has the ability to fast for 60 consecutive days? Is it either/or, and one can choose between the two? Would this differ between the Shafi’ee and Hanafi Mathabs?
Answer
If a person intentionally broke a fast during the month of Ramadaan either by eating, drinking, or engaging in sexual intercourse, then Kaffaarah will be obligatory. In other words, one will have to keep 60 fasts consecutively together with the fast that was broken. In total, a number of sixty-one fasts will have to be kept.
A person who has the ability of keeping the 60 fasts, is not permitted to move to the next option in Kaffaarah which is feeding sixty poor people. Yes, if an elderly person is unable to keep the 60 fasts consecutively due to ill-health or weakness, then he will be permitted to feed 60 poor people instead of keeping the 60 fasts.
In conclusion, one does not have a choice between fasting and feeding the poor. One may only choose to feed sixty poor people when he is totally unable to fast. This is the ruling according to the Hanafi school of thought. You may refer to a reliable Shafi’ee Mufti for a ruling according to the Shafi’ee school of thought.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
ولو قدر علي الصوم يبطل حكم الفداء لان شرط الخليفة استمرار العجز (فتح القديرص83 ج2)
- Answered by
- Mufti Mohammed Desai
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