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Fatwa CenterProhibition of making expiation from ill-gotten money
Question
My mother, who is 60 years old, is on medication which includes doses for hypertension. I fear that she cannot fast, especially as she has never observed fasting before. She wants to fast but she gets too tired. Is it permissible for her to make expiation? What is the value of expiation and when is it to be made? Are there any other alternatives to payment? Is it permissible to make expiation from ill-gotten money?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Fasting is obligatory on the Muslim who fulfills the conditions of obligation. It is not up to a Muslim to observe fasting only when he/ she feels like it. If your mother did not observe fasting in the past although she was able to and was not advised by any trustworthy doctor not to fast, then she has to turn to Allaah in repentance immediately and to make up for all the months of Ramadan that she did not fast by fasting a corresponding number of months. If she quit fasting based on her experience that she found fasting to be an unbearable hardship or based on advice from a doctor who understood the criticality of her illness and that she knew she would be permanently unable to fast, then it would be permissible for her not to fast; in the past and in the future and she will be required to make expiation for every day of every month of Ramadan that she did not fast. The expiation for one day equals one Mudd (approximately 750 gm of rice) of the staple food of the country to be given to the poor and the needy. The majority of scholars hold that expiation must be made in food, but other scholars permit giving the value of the expiatory amount of food in money, especially if it would be more beneficial to the poor person who receives it.
It is permissible to make the expiation on the day of fasting or delay them altogether till the end of the month. It is not valid to make it before the coming of Ramadan, i.e. make it in advance, nor is it valid to make it for a specific day before the break of its dawn. This way of expiating is the only way for a Muslim who is unable to fast to be discharged. Expiation cannot be made from ill-gotten money because Allaah Is Good and does not accept anything but good.
Allaah Knows best.
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