Fasting to fulfill a vow

31-1-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

I want to know the Fatwa concerning the vow of fasting eleven years ago I vowed to Allah that if He fulfilled my wish I would fast for two months. My wish became true but I did not manage to fast the days though I am not sick. I wish to know if it is possible to give money instead of fasting? If yes, how much? If no, can I fast separately, two days a week, for example?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

You must fulfill your vow by fasting these two months, since you are able to fast them, as this is what we understood from your question.

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Whoever vows to obey Allah has to obey Him, and whoever vows to disobey Allah, then he should not disobey Him."

In case you are unable to fast at this present time, and the vow is not limited to two consecutive months, you have to wait until you become fit to fast them in order to fulfill the vow.

The vow is not accomplished by fasting some days and breaking the fast some other days, if you vowed previously to fast the two months consecutively.  And it is not permissible to pay money instead, except in the case when you are permanently unable to fast, in this case you have the permission to expiate the oath by feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or setting a slave free for each day.  If you are still unable to do all that is mentioned, then you should fast 3 days, and in addition to that if you feed a poor person for every fasting day this is better.

Allah knows best.