Praise
be to Allah
If someone owes
days from Ramadan, he may delay making them up, so long as the next Ramadan
has not begun.
Ibn Qudaamah
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: To sum up, if someone owns a fast from
Ramadan, then he may delay it so long as the next Ramadan has not begun,
because of the report narrated by ‘Aa’ishah, who said: I used to have fasts
that I still owed from Ramadan, and I would not make them up until Sha‘baan.
Agreed upon. It is not permissible for him to delay making them up until the
next Ramadan begins without a valid reason, because ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be
pleased with her) did not delay making up missed fasts to that extent; if
she could have, she would have delayed hem.
End quote from
al-Mughni (3/85)
With regard to
expiation for breaking an oath (kafaarat yameen), the scholars differed as
to whether it is obligatory to do it immediately or whether it may be
deferred.
It says in
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (10/14): The majority of scholars are of the
view that it is not permissible to delay expiation for breaking an oath, and
that when the oath is broken, the expiation must be offered immediately. End
quote.
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Part of heeding the solemnity
of oaths is offering expiation immediately after breaking the oath; the
expiation becomes obligatory with immediate effect, because the basic
principle with regard to obligatory matters is that they must be done
immediately.
End quote from
al-Qawl al-Mufeed ‘ala Kitaab at-Tawheed (2/456). See also
ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘ (15/159).
The Shaafa‘is,
according to the more correct opinion, are of the view that it is obligatory
to offer the expiation immediately if breaking the oath involves an act of
disobedience, such as if a person swore to refrain from committing a sin,
then he does it. They said: In this case, he must offer expiation
immediately.
An-Nawawi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: As for expiation, if it has to do with an act
that did not involve deliberate transgression, such as expiation for
accidental killing, or expiation for breaking an oath, in some instances,
then it may be done later on, and there is no difference of scholarly
opinion in this case, because the act is excused.
But if the act
involved deliberate transgression, then must the expiation be offered
immediately or can it be deferred? There are two opinions which were both
narrated by al-Qaffaal and his companions; the more sound view is that it
must be offered immediately.
End quote from
al-Majmoo‘ (3/70)
So according to
the majority view, expiation for breaking an oath should be given
precedence, because it must be offered immediately, whereas making up missed
Ramadan fasts may be deferred.
If the time is
short and there are only a few days left until Ramadan, so there is not
enough time to both make up the missed fasts and offer expiation, then
precedence should be given to making up the missed fasts, because that is
more important, and the scholars stated that it should be given precedence
over fasting in fulfilment of a vow.
An-Nawawi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: If he missed any of the fasts in Ramadan
because of a valid reason, and the excuse is no longer applicable, then he
must make up the missed Ramadan fasts, because that is more important than
fasting in fulfilment of a vow.
End quote from
al-Majmoo‘ (6/391)
And Allah knows
best.