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:

Assalamualykum wrahmatullahhe wa barakatuh

Can a muslim keep the missed ramadan fastings in the name of his or her parents?

Allahafiz.

(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 missed fasts of parents

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.

The scholars are unanimous in their opinion that if an individual dies and has missed some obligatory prayers during their life, their guardians or heirs are not to perform those missed prayers on the deceased’s behalf.

Similarly, if one does not have the ability to fast, no one is to fast for them while the individual is alive.

But there is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars over the case of one who dies in a state whereby they did not or were unable to make up the missed days of obligatory fasts.

Scholars of the stature of Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Malik hold the opinion that the guardians or heirs should not fast on the deceased’s behalf, but rather feed one person a day for the missed days of fasting.

Imam Shafei on the other hand is of the opinion that it is permissible for the guardians/heirs of the deceased to observe the missed days of fasting of the deceased, and they apply the following evidence for their opinion:

Hadrat Aisha (r.a.) related that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "If one dies and has some fasts to make up, then their guardian should fast on his behalf."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Abbas (r.a.) related that a man came to the Prophet (saws) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (saws), my mother died and a month's fasting was due from her. Should I fast on her behalf?" The Prophet (saws) asked: "If your mother had a debt would you fulfill it for her?" He said, "Yes." The Prophet (saws) observed: "A debt to Allah has more of a right to be fulfilled."

Related by Ahmad and Tirmidhi.

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