Kitab al-Sawm: Illness, Travel, Make-up Fasts and Delayed Qaḍāʾ

1. Scope and three key concepts

The passage addresses two excuses in Ramadan: illness and travel. It then distinguishes what happens if the excuse persists until death from what happens when the person has time to make up missed fasts. It ends with the scheduling of qaḍāʾ and a subsequent Ramadan.

Rukhṣah is a concession; qaḍāʾ is the later performance of a missed fast; fidyah is a separate financial obligation. The passage gives each concept a distinct legal role.

2. The original clause on illness

وَمَنْ كَانَ مَرِيضًا فِي رَمَضَانَ، فَخَافَ إِنْ صَامَ ازْدَادَ مَرَضُهُ: أَفْطَرَ، وَقَضَى.
Translation: Whoever is ill in Ramadan and fears that fasting will worsen his illness may omit the fast and subsequently make it up.

The relevant condition is a credible fear that fasting will worsen the illness, not the mere existence of an illness label. In that case the person may break or omit the fast and later makes it up.

The two verbs carry different functions: afṭara concerns the present concession, whereas qaḍā indicates performance of the missed fast later.

3. Vocabulary of the illness clause

Khāfa means “he feared”; in ṣāma introduces “if he fasts”; izdāda means “increased”; and the suffix -hu in maraḍuhu refers back to the ill person.

The sentence is conditional. The legal reason stated here is apprehended worsening from fasting, not every form of mild illness. The wording matters when one decides what the source actually states.

4. Assessing credible risk

Fear in this rule is not an unsupported whim. Hanafi explanation ordinarily looks to experience, observable symptoms or a competent medical assessment when determining credible harm; substantial delay in recovery can also be relevant.

For complex or continuing illnesses, an individual should seek a competent clinician and qualified jurist. This historic legal clause alone is not an assessment of a particular medical risk.

5. Two illness scenarios

Case one is a minor discomfort without credible evidence that fasting will worsen an illness; the specific concession cannot be inferred from the mere label “sick.”

Case two carries credible risk of deterioration from fasting; the illness concession applies, followed by later make-up. The learner should identify the condition in the source before assigning its ruling.

6. Permission is not cancellation

The concession to omit a fast does not erase all responsibility for the day. The author explicitly couples permission with later make-up when the temporary excuse ceases.

This is not the ruling on deliberately invalidating a fast without an excuse, nor is the passage an independent exposition of kaffārah. Keep the nature of the excuse and the later duty separate.

7. The original clause on travel

وَإِنْ كَانَ مُسَافِرًا لَا يَسْتَضِرُّ بِالصَّوْمِ: فَصَوْمُهُ أَفْضَلُ، وَإِنْ أَفْطَرَ، وَقَضَى: جَازَ.
Translation: If he is a traveller for whom fasting causes no harm, fasting is better; nevertheless, it is permissible to omit the fast and make it up afterward.

The author explicitly qualifies the traveller as one who is not harmed by fasting. In that condition, fasting is preferable, but the traveller may use the travel concession and subsequently make up the missed day.

Preference and permission must not be conflated. “Better to fast” does not mean “not allowed to break the fast” in the situation described.

8. What qualifies as travel?

The word musāfir here is a traveller who meets the legally defined conditions of travel, not simply anyone who goes out of the house. Travel distance and intended residence are separate juristic requirements.

A daily commute or local movement does not automatically establish the fasting concession. This lesson assumes the underlying qualification for sharʿī travel has already been met.

9. Why fasting can be preferable during travel

“Fa-ṣawmuhu afḍal” expresses a preference for fasting during Ramadan where no harm results. One performs the duty within its appointed month and avoids later make-up.

The preference is attached to the stated condition of no harm. It must not be mechanically extended to circumstances of substantial hardship or harm.

10. If a traveller does not fast

Suppose a legally qualified traveller uses the permission to miss one Ramadan day. Omission was permitted, but the missed day remains a day to be made up later.

Two questions must be answered separately: was taking the concession lawful, and how many fasts require make-up? A legitimate concession can coexist with a later duty.

11. Illness versus travel in the text

For the ill person, the stated concern is expected worsening of illness. For the legally qualified traveller, travel itself establishes the category of concession, while the source prefers fasting when no harm results.

Both can entail later make-up of missed days. The underlying reasons for the concession differ; they should not be described with identical conditions.

12. Death while the excuse continues

وَإِنْ مَاتَ الْمَرِيضُ، أَوِ الْمُسَافِرُ، وَهُمَا عَلَى حَالِهِمَا: لَمْ يَلْزَمْهُمَا الْقَضَاءُ.
Translation: If the sick person or the traveller dies while each remains in the same excused condition, make-up is not incumbent upon them.

If the sick person dies while the illness continues, or the traveller dies while the travelling condition persists, without an opportunity to make up the missed days, the author states that qaḍāʾ is not incumbent upon them for those days.

“While both remain in their state” is decisive. It does not say that every person dying with missed fasts is treated identically, regardless of having had a period of opportunity.

13. Why opportunity to make up matters

Qaḍāʾ involves performance on days after the excuse. If the person dies without recovery or residence, no interval to make up the fasts was available. This is the context for the text’s statement that qaḍāʾ did not become binding.

The reasoning concerns an opportunity for performance, not merely the number of missed days. The next source clause deliberately contrasts this with later recovery or residence.

14. Worked case: continuous illness

A person missed 5 Ramadan days because of a qualifying illness, remained ill, and died without ever recovering. This is an illustration of dying while the excused state continues.

The source treats those missed fasts as not having become a qaḍāʾ duty in the relevant sense, because the person obtained no later opportunity. Do not confuse this with recovery followed by delayed make-up.

15. Death after recovery or settling

وَإِنْ صَحَّ الْمَرِيضُ، أَوْ أَقَامَ الْمُسَافِرُ، ثُمَّ مَاتَا: لَزِمَهُمَا الْقَضَاءُ بِقَدْرِ الصِّحَّةِ، وَالْإِقَامَةِ.
Translation: If the ill person recovers or the traveller becomes resident and they subsequently die, make-up is chargeable in proportion to the time of health or residence.

The second clause addresses a person who recovered from illness or finished travelling, then died. Some days were available for making up fasts. Accordingly, the liability is proportional to that period of health or residence.

The words “to the extent of health and residence” establish the cap. This is a different case from uninterrupted illness or travel until death.

16. What ṣaḥḥa and aqāma mean

Ṣaḥḥa al-marīḍ means “the ill person recovered”; aqāma al-musāfir means “the traveller became resident”; and thumma mātā means they died afterward. The order matters.

The legal contrast is not simply death versus survival, but death with no interval for qaḍāʾ versus death after obtaining an interval in which qaḍāʾ was possible.

17. Example: proportional make-up

Suppose 7 fasts were missed for a qualifying illness, then the person recovered for only 3 days before death and had not performed the make-up. On the principle described, the liability is limited to 3 days, not 7, because that was the available period.

The example assumes those 3 days were usable for qaḍāʾ, with no other excuse. Any estate or bequest consequences require their separate legal conditions.

18. Liability versus estate consequences

The clause describes accrued make-up liability. It does not mean that heirs automatically become obligated to fast personally on behalf of the deceased. The legal treatment of bequests and feeding in relation to missed fasts is addressed in another passage.

For this lesson, record only the proportional liability arising from available recovery or residence. Do not invent estate duties from this single sentence.

19. The original rule on scheduling qaḍāʾ

وَقَضَاءُ رَمَضَانَ إِنْ شَاءَ فَرَّقَهُ، وَإِنْ شَاءَ تَابَعَهُ.
Translation: Ramadan make-up fasts may be performed on separate days or consecutively.

Farraqahu means distributing make-up fasts across separate days, while tābaʿahu means keeping them consecutively. The expression in shāʾa allows both approaches.

Consequently, consecutive performance is not a strict validity condition for ordinary Ramadan make-up. The desirability of prompt completion is a distinct consideration.

20. Example: separated make-up days

Someone owing 4 Ramadan fasts may perform two in one week and two in another, on legally permissible days, while meeting the intention and other conditions of make-up fasting.

Allowing separated days changes the schedule, not the count. Four missed fasts require four valid make-up fasts.

21. Example: consecutive make-up days

The same 4 make-up fasts may also be observed consecutively, provided the chosen days and the intention satisfy the applicable rules.

“Can be consecutive” is not the same as “must be consecutive.” The wording of the source expressly leaves both scheduling patterns open.

22. Permissibility and promptness

Permission to separate make-up days is not an encouragement to postpone them indefinitely without a reason. Once the excuse has ended, prompt fulfilment is preferable.

Legally acceptable scheduling and good practice in promptly discharging a debt of worship are separate questions.

23. The original clause on a later Ramadan

وَإِنْ أَخَّرَهُ حَتَّى دَخَلَ رَمَضَانٌ آخَرُ: صَامَ رَمَضَانَ الثَّانِيَ، وَقَضَى الْأَوَّلَ بَعْدَهُ، وَلَا فِدْيَةَ عَلَيْهِ.
Translation: If make-up is delayed until another Ramadan arrives, one fasts that second Ramadan, then makes up the first afterward; no fidyah is due for that delay.

Two separate obligations are involved: missed days from an earlier Ramadan and the presently arriving Ramadan. The text prioritizes fasting the current Ramadan, then completing the previous make-up days afterward.

“No fidyah upon him” is an important Hanafi point: arrival of another Ramadan alone does not create an additional feeding payment merely because earlier make-up was delayed.

24. Present Ramadan takes precedence

Once the new Ramadan begins, its fasts have a fixed current time. Earlier missed fasts are not used to displace the present month’s obligatory fasting.

The sequence is: observe the current Ramadan, then discharge the remaining earlier make-up. Nothing in this order cancels the old missed days.

25. No additional fidyah merely for delay

“No fidyah upon him” addresses the particular case of delayed Ramadan make-up. Under the Hanafi ruling stated here, the delay by itself does not add a fidyah payment, while the missed fasting duty remains.

This does not abolish fidyah in all circumstances. Permanent inability and bequests regarding a deceased person have separate rules; other Sunni schools may differ on a penalty for certain delays.

26. Worked case across two Ramadans

Suppose someone owes 6 days from a previous Ramadan and another Ramadan begins before they are performed. The current Ramadan is fasted on time. Afterward the 6 earlier days remain to be made up.

The mere change of year creates neither 6 extra make-up days nor an extra fidyah under the Hanafi rule. The original six-day obligation is still to be completed.

27. Integrated legal map

Illness: credible fear of deterioration permits omission followed by make-up. Travel: a qualified traveller has a concession; fasting is preferable if harmless. Death while the excuse continues: no opportunity for make-up and no ensuing liability in that case.

Recovery or residence before death: proportional liability. Scheduling: separated or consecutive make-up is allowed. New Ramadan: perform the current month first, then the older make-up; no extra Hanafi fidyah merely for delay.

28. The next passage begins elsewhere

This lesson covers all six consecutive original clauses: illness, travel, death while an excuse persists, later recovery or residence, scheduling make-up days, and reaching another Ramadan.

The subsequent text turns to fasting rulings for pregnant and nursing women. That distinct discussion is reserved for Level 072 rather than mixed with the present rulings.