Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullai wa Barakatuh

Dear Brother in Islam,

I have some outstanding fasts from previous ramadam months. i wasn`t aware that i should complete them before the next ramadan till now. i would like to finish all the fasts from previous months. Could you please advise me the hukum of it and what are the best ways to fast the outstanding fasts??

May Allah`s blessings be upon you all the way. 

Assalaamalaikum,

iam a muslim girl. i have a question on lost fast during ramadhan.

I want to know what are the hukums for pending fasts from previous ramadhan.(i have some fasts i lost from previus months and i dont know how much, before i wasnt aware that i must fulfill them before the next ramadhan comes. Now i want to fulfill those lost fasts and i dont know how i should do it. could you please explain to me how to do it????)

please i need the answer very soon inorder to clear my sins... help me soon please

May Allah's blessings be upon you

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Answer:

Missed pending fasts

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 185:

185 Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

Dear and Beloved Sister, fasting is an obligatory and prescribed duty our Lord Most High has laid upon those who sincerely believe in Him and the Last Day; and unless one has an absolutely valid reason, one should never ever miss this obligatory duty.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 184:

184 (Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill or on a journey the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (with hardship) is a ransom the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more of his own free will it is better for him and it is better for you that ye fast if ye only knew.

The jurists in Islam consider it a preferred act and not obligatory that a believer who has missed some days of fasting in the blessed month of Ramadan, to fulfill those missed days by fasting on any other days of the year before the advent of the next Ramadan. But if perchance, due to forgetfulness or laziness or whatever, one is unable to make up those missed days before the advent of the next Ramadan, one should fulfill those missed days after the month of Ramadan.

But if one is chronically ill (or abjectly aged) and is not blessed with health to fulfill those missed fasts, and has no hope of recovering his health, then the atonement or ‘kaffara’ should be paid by feeding an indigent for each missed fast. If one is not chronically ill and their health or age or condition does not prevent them fasting, their atonement for the missed fasts is to make up those missed fasts by fasting those precise number of days at any other time of the year, and thus fulfill the debt they owe to their Lord Creator.

Your Question: i have some fasts i lost from previus months and i dont know how much

It is absolutely imperative that one should accurately count or note the exact number of missed days of fasting and then make up those missed days by fasting later. But if one is unsure how many obligatory fasts one has missed, then one should make one’s best effort and guess the number of days missed and make up those missed fasts later. In such an unlikely situation where a believer is not aware exactly how many fasts he has missed in the previous Ramadan, it would be safer and closer to piety to guess the maximum number of fasts he could have missed, and make up that number at a later date. If one is sincere in one’s atonement, it is expected that their Lord Most Merciful will accept their atonement and their worship.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan