Cost of Expiation for Intentional Fasting Break | Obligation of Making Up the Fast with Expiation | Recipients of Expiation

Question

Peace be upon you, Q1: What is the cost of expiation for intentionally breaking the fast for one day during Ramadan (in Lebanon in our current situation)? Q2: Is it necessary to make up the fast after paying the expiation? Q3: To whom should the expiation be given? [AR_ID:2454]

Answer 1

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.

Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sistani (may God protect him):

A1) The expiation for breaking the fast of one day in Ramadan is currently optional between fasting for two consecutive months or feeding sixty needy people, with each person receiving a measure (mod) which is approximately three-quarters of a kilogram of flour (totaling 45 kilograms of flour for each day). The monetary value of the expiation varies with price changes.

For the feeding, it is permissible to either provide food directly to the needy or to satisfy them. It is allowed to give food to some and satisfy others, and the satisfaction does not have a specific measure but is based on offering enough food to satisfy them, whether little or much. The minimum requirement for giving is to provide each one of them a mod of food.

A2) Yes, you must make up for each day you intentionally broke the fast.

A3) The recipients of the expiation are the poor who are eligible for zakat, specifically those who do not possess their annual sustenance or strength. It is required that they be Muslim, and preferably a believer, but it is permissible to give it to the weak who are not from the rightful claimants (except for the nisab) if the believer cannot find anyone else. It is not permissible to give it to those who are obligatory to support, such as parents, children, and a permanent wife (not a temporary one), but it is permissible to give it to other relatives, and it may even be better.

It is strongly recommended not to give it to those who abandon prayer, drink alcohol, or openly commit sins.

Source: Minhaj al-Salihin, Vol. 3, Issues 773, 774, 776.

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Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei (may God protect him):

A1) The expiation for intentionally breaking the fast during the blessed month of Ramadan in Islamic law consists of one of the following three options:

1- Freeing a slave.

2- Fasting for two consecutive months.

3- Feeding sixty needy people.

Since there are no slaves in our time to free, the obligated person must choose one of the other two options.

Feeding sixty needy people can be achieved in two ways:

1- Satisfying them with ready food.

2- Giving each one a mod (750 grams) of wheat, flour, bread, rice, or other types of food.

A2) Yes, you must make up for each day you intentionally broke the fast.

A3) The recipients of the expiation are the poor who do not possess their annual sustenance for themselves and their families and cannot obtain it.

Source: Risalah on Prayer and Fasting, 885, 886, 873.

May you be successful in all good.