Is it required that the days of missed fasting and the days of making up such fasting have the same duration?

9-5-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

There is a man who is required to make up days of fasting that he missed in Ramadan. Is it mandatory that the days in which he is going to make up for those have the same duration as the days that he missed? For example, if the day of fasting that he missed was in the summer with a 15 hour day length (from dawn to sunset), then would it be permissible to intentionally make up for the fast in a winter day of a 12 hour day length (from dawn to sunset)? Would the fasting be invalid if he does so intentionally? Also, if he is not certain about the number of days that he missed, and, therefore, he observes two extra days for the sake of assurance, will he be rewarded for these two days as voluntary fasting in case the two days turn out to have been extra? Or will he not be rewarded for that because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that Allaah, the Exalted, forbids usury and never accepts it.

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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.

It is not required that the days in which you make up for missed fasts have the same duration as the days that you missed. This is because Allaah says (what means): {an equal number of other days}. The obligation is fulfilled by making up for the missed days, regardless of how long the days fasted in place of the missed days are.

Whoever has missed days of fasting and cannot remember their number must seriously do his best so as to calculate their number. It is better to observe extra days since this should ascertain clearance from the obligation. If you observe extra days and they turn out to be extra, then you will be rewarded for them as is the case with voluntary fasting.

Allaah Knows best.