Question:
3 years ago, I missed 2 fasts of Ramadan with no reasonable excuse. I attempted to fast 60 consecutive days in order to expiate my sin, but after 14 days of fasting, I broke my fast (with no reasonable excuse) on the 15th day. Can I make up the remaining 46 fasts or do i have to start again and do all 60 consecutively?
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
A person who deliberately broke the fast in Ramadan is obliged to make it up and expiate for it if one broke the fast because of having sexual intercourse with his wife. However, if one broke the fast for other reasons, then he is only obliged to make up for the day he broke the fast, according to the most preponderant opinion of the scholars and he is not obliged to expiate for it
.
The expiation for a person who broke the fast because of sexual intercourse with his wife is to free a salve, and whoever is unable to do this, he is obliged to fast two consecutive months, so much so that if he breaks the fast one day without a valid reason, he is obliged to fast again from the beginning. However, if he breaks the fast for a sound reason, because of sickness, or fainting, for instance and the like, then in this case he does not start anew, but he should resume from wher he stopped fasting, as the continuity of fasting is not interrupted due to the above reasons. Nonetheless, if one is unable to fast because it is very difficult for him to fast two consecutive months, then he is obliged to feed sixty poor persons [on each day he broke the fast due to having sexual intercourse with the wife].
Allah Knows best.
Fatwa answered by:The Fatwa Center at Islamweb