Missed Fasts: Qada, Fidyah and Kaffarah Explained

Most people miss some fasts in a lifetime: illness, travel, menstruation, pregnancy, an operation. The Qur'an (2:184) deals with this directly: fast an equal number of other days, and for those who cannot fast at all, feed a poor person instead. This article sets out the three terms you will hear, qada (making up), fidyah (feeding) and kaffarah (expiation), and shows how they apply with real dates for 2027.

Qada: making up a missed day

A day missed for a valid reason is made up with one day of fasting after Ramadan. The same applies if you broke a fast through illness or travel part-way through the day. Eating or drinking forgetfully does not break the fast and needs no make-up (Bukhari 1933; Muslim 1155).

When. The majority of scholars (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) say the days must be made up before the next Ramadan. Hanafis say there is no fixed deadline but that delaying without reason is disliked. In practice, treat the next Ramadan as the deadline.

How. One day for one day, with the intention made before Fajr. The days may be fasted in a row or spread out. Avoid the days on which fasting is forbidden: Eid al-Fitr (expected Tuesday 9 March 2027), Eid al-Adha (expected Sunday 16 May 2027) and the three days after it.

If the deadline passes. Someone who delays make-up fasts past the next Ramadan without excuse owes, according to the three majority schools, the make-up fast plus a fidyah for each day; Hanafis say only the make-up fast. Someone who could not fast because the excuse continued (for example, a long illness) makes the days up when able and owes nothing more.

Fidyah: feeding instead of fasting

Fidyah is for people who cannot fast and are not expected to be able to make the days up: the very elderly, and those with a chronic illness that a doctor does not expect to improve. It is also the majority's addition for unexcused delay, described above, and in some schools for a pregnant or breastfeeding woman who broke the fast for the child's sake (see fasting with a health condition).

How much. One poor person fed for each missed day. The schools describe the quantity in terms of staple food: Shafi'is and Malikis use a mudd (about 0.75 kg of wheat or rice); Hanafis use half a sa' of wheat (about 1.6–2 kg) or a full sa' of dates or barley, and permit paying the value in money. In most countries mosques and charities announce a local figure per day before Ramadan, and that is the simplest way to pay. You may also cook and give the meals yourself.

When. It may be paid day by day during Ramadan, or in one sum at the end. If a person later recovers and can fast, the majority say the fidyah already paid stands and no make-up is needed, though some scholars ask for the make-up too. Ask a scholar or imam you trust.

Kaffarah: expiation for deliberately breaking the fast

Kaffarah is the heavy penalty for intentionally breaking a Ramadan fast without excuse. The hadith reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim concerns a man who had intercourse with his wife during a fasting day; the Prophet (peace be upon him) told him to free a slave, and if he could not, to fast two consecutive months, and if he could not, to feed sixty poor people. Today this means sixty consecutive days of fasting, or feeding sixty poor people if that is not possible, plus making up the day itself.

All four Sunni schools apply kaffarah to deliberate intercourse. Hanafis and Malikis also apply it to deliberately eating or drinking without excuse; Shafi'is and Hanbalis require only qada for that, along with repentance. Ja'fari jurists treat deliberate breaking in any form as requiring kaffarah. Because the consequences are serious and depend on your school and circumstances, this is a question for a scholar you trust, not for a website. In every case, sincere repentance comes first.

Worked example: Ramadan 1448 (2027)

Amina is in good health but misses six days of Ramadan 1448 (expected 8 February – 8 March 2027) because of menstruation. Her options after Eid al-Fitr (expected Tuesday 9 March 2027):

Whether she may combine the make-up days with the six days of Shawwal with one intention is discussed in six days of Shawwal. Her father, aged 82 and advised by his doctor not to fast, pays fidyah for 29 days at the figure his mosque announces, or gives 29 meals to a food bank that serves people in need.

Keeping track

• Note missed days as they happen; a line in the notes app is enough.
• Check the Hijri calendar for Eid and other days when fasting is not allowed.
• Use Sha'ban (expected from 9 January 2027) as the last window before Ramadan; see the Ramadan preparation checklist.
• For days missed through travel, read fasting while travelling, and for what does and does not break the fast, see what breaks the fast.

For your own situation, especially anything involving kaffarah or years of missed fasts, ask a scholar or imam you trust.