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:

Asalamalaikum,

I have one question to ask

If a person is deceased, then how do we make up for the fasts that he / she has missed.

I would be very grateful if you answer the above question.

Thanks

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Make up fasts for another

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Respected sister, the rites of worship in Islam can be divided into three categories:

1. Worship which involves self alone (praying, fasting, etc.)
2. Worship which involves wealth alone (zakah, sadaqah, etc.)
3. Worships which combine both: self and wealth (Hajj, Umrah, Jihad, sacrifice, etc.)

There is allowance in Shariah regarding another person fulfilling the worships missed of their loved ones which involve ‘wealth’ alone, or ‘wealth and self’…..but for all acts of worship which involve ‘self’ alone, like prayers, fasting, recitation of the Quran, etc…..one must do so themselves and no other person can fulfill that worship for them.

There is evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) whereby he (saws) allowed the believers to give ‘sadaqah’ or ‘sacrifice’ from the wealth of the deceased, or allowed their surviving loved one’s to perform the pilgrimage of Umrah or Hajj on behalf of their deceased loved ones…..but to the best of our knowledge there is absolutely no evidence whereby the Prophet (saws) allowed or gave his consent for one to make up the missed prayers or fasts of their deceased loved one.

Thus if one has missed one’s prayer/s, or fast/s for any reason whatsoever….that individual must atone for their missed worship themselves. If the person has met with their appointment of death and perchance missed some obligatory prayers or fasts, their case rests with Allah Subhanah Alone. If The Lord Wills and Pleases, He may choose to forgive them; and if the Lord Wills and Pleases, He may extract retribution from them.

Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "The first thing that the people will be called to account for on the Day of Resurrection will be the prayers. Our Lord will say to the Angels although He knows better: 'Look into the ‘Salah’ of My servant to see if he observed it perfectly or been negligent in it.’ So if he observed it perfectly it will be recorded to his credit, but if he had been negligent in it in any way, Allah would say: ‘See if My servant has any supererogatory (nafl) prayers.’ Then if he has any supererogatory prayers, Allah would say: ‘Make up the deficiency in My servant's obligatory prayer with his supererogatory prayers.' Thereafter all his actions will be examined in like manner"

Related by Abu Dawud.

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