Flexibility in paying the fidyah for an elderly person who cannot fast; it may be paid at the beginning or end of the month, or after the month has ended

Praise
be to Allah

Firstly:

The scholars
differed concerning the ruling on hastening to pay the fidyah of an elderly
person who is not able to fast, which means paying for the entire month at
the beginning of the month or in the middle of the month. There are two
views:

The first view:

It is
permissible to hasten to pay it at the beginning of the blessed month, but
not before. This is the view of the Hanafis. Ibn ‘Aabideen (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:

An old man who
is unable to fast may break the fast, and it is obligatory for him to pay a
fidyah, even if that is on the first of the month. In other words: he has
the choice between paying it at the beginning of the month or at the end.

End quote from
ad-Durr al-Mukhtaar wa Haashiyat Ibn ‘Aabideen (2/427).

The second view:

It is not
permissible to pay the fidyah two or more days in advance, but it is
permissible to pay it one day in advance only. This is the view of the
Shaafa‘is. Al-Khateeb ash-Sharbeeni (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

They [the
elderly], pregnant women and breastfeeding women do not have the right to
pay the fidyah two days or more in advance, just as it is not permissible to
give zakaah two years in advance, in contrast to the case where the people
mentioned pay the fidyah one day in advance or on the day in question; that
is permissible.

End quote from
Mughni al-Muhtaaj (2/176).

See also:
Asna al-Mutaalib (1/430).

The view that is
most likely to be correct concerning this matter is the first view, which
says that it is permissible to pay the fidyah at the beginning of the month
of Ramadan. The fidyah is an alternative that is meant to make things
easier, and it is a must for the old and the chronically sick; what is
appropriate for this alternative is to make it easy to pay it, and not to
impose restrictions or be stringent.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

This expiation
(fidyah) may be given to one person or more than one, at the beginning of
the month or in the middle or at the end.

End quote from
Majmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (15/203).

Shaykh Saalih
al-Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) said:

It is
permissible to give charity (fidyah) for days in Ramadan on which a person
did not fast because of chronic illness or old age. It is permissible to
offer expiation for the entire month in advance, at the beginning of the
month; and it is permissible to delay doing so until the end of the month;
and it is permissible to pay the fidyah in the middle of the month. It is
permissible to give it all in one go and it is also permissible to give it
piecemeal. End quote.

Secondly:

The fuqaha’
differed concerning the deadline before which an elderly person who is
unable to fast may pay the fidyah. There are two views:

The first view:

There is no
deadline for payment, and the end of Ramadan is not the deadline. There is
no blame on one who pays the fidyah that he owes after the end of Ramadan.

That is because
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“And
as for those who can fast with difficulty, (e.g. an old man, etc.), they
have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a Miskeen (poor person) (for every
day)”

[al-Baqarah
2:184].

No specific time
is mentioned, so the fidyah becomes due and is owed by the individual with
no deadlines; he must pay it whenever he can afford it. Even if he pays it
many years afterwards, there is no sin on him. This is what was stated by
the Hanafi and Shaafa‘i fuqaha’.

Imam al-Kaasaani
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

All expiations
are obligatory and must be paid, but there is no deadline. This is the
correct view according to our companions, and that is with regard to an
issue where the religious texts do not mention any deadline for payment. So
a person would not be sinning even if he delays it the first time he can
afford it; in that case he is still regarded as paying it on time and it is
not regarded as making it up (qadaa’).

What is meant by
there not being any particular deadline is that it must be paid at some
point during his life, which is not specified. It could become specified if
the religious text stated a specific time, or at the end of his life, such
as if he delays it until a time when he thinks that if he does not pay it,
he will miss paying it. Then if he does it, he will have discharged his
duty, but if he does not do it until he dies, then he is a sinner, because
he left it too late.

End quote from
Badaa’i‘ as-Sanaa’i‘ (5/96).

He mentioned
some types of fidyah as examples of this principle.

Al-‘Allaamah
Zakariyya al-Ansaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

There is no
blame on the old man if he delays paying the fidyah (for not fasting), if he
delays it until the following year.

End quote from
Asna al-Mataalib (1/430)

Al-Khateeb
ash-Sharbeeni (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

There is no
blame on one who is elderly, or one who is chronically sick, or one for whom
fasting is too hard, if they delay paying the fidyah until the following
year.

End quote from
Mughni al-Muhtaaj (6/17)

Ash-Shihaab
ar-Ramli (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

(A person in
this situation) has the option between delaying the fidyah, paying it on the
same day or the next day.

End quote from
Fataawa ar-Ramli (2/74).

Az-Zarkashi
said:

When the fidyah
becomes obligatory, it may be paid whenever one chooses (and there is no
deadline).

End quote from
al-Manthoor fi’l-Qawaa‘id al-Fiqhiyyah (3/22).

The second view:

The fidyah must
be paid immediately and it is not permissible to delay it. This is the view
of the Hanbalis.

Ibn Muflih (may
Allah have mercy on him) said:

What appears to
be their view concerning this issue is that food must be offered
immediately, because it has become due, and that is more proper.

End quote from
al-Furoo‘ (4/448).

Al-Mirdaawi
commented on that by saying:

What was
narrated from Imam Ahmad is that immediate fulfilment is required in the
case of a vow that was not connected to any specific time and in the case of
expiation (fidyah); what is under discussion here is fidyah.

End quote from
al-Insaaf (3/291).

The more correct
view concerning this issue, in sha Allah, is the first view, because that is
what is indicated by the apparent meaning of the verse. In order to set a
specific deadline, there should be proof for that, but there is no proof to
that effect.

Thus it becomes
clear that the Hanafi view concerning this issue is more likely to be
correct, which is that there is flexibility in paying the fidyah; it may be
done at the beginning of the month, or at the end, or after the month is
over.

There is no
blame on your grandmother for following the Hanafi view in any case.

I put this
question to our shaykh, ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak (may Allah preserve him),
and he replied:

It is
permissible to delay the fidyah until after Ramadan, but to be on the safe
side it may be done atthe end of the month. End quote.

And Allah knows
best.