How to make up missed Ramadan fasts, and by when

Who makes up fasts, and why it is one day for one day

The rule comes straight from the verses on fasting. Quran 2:184, in Dr. Mustafa Khattab's translation The Clear Quran, says that whoever "is ill or on a journey" should fast "an equal number of days" after Ramadan, and 2:185 repeats the same instruction. A missed day is replaced by a fasted day, one for one. Making up these fasts is what the word qada (قضاء) refers to in this context.

Menstruation and bleeding after childbirth fall under the same rule. In Sahih Muslim 335c, Aisha explains that women "were ordered to complete the fasts, but were not ordered to complete the prayers." Egypt's Dar al-Ifta states in its fatwa no. 6195 that scholars have unanimously agreed that breaking a fast because of menstruation requires making up the missed days only.

Pregnancy and nursing are where the schools start to differ. Islamic Relief and SeekersGuidance both note that in the Hanafi school a pregnant or breastfeeding woman makes up her fasts and does not pay fidya instead. Other schools treat some of these cases differently, so this is a point to ask about in your own school.

The deadline: before the next Ramadan

The usual reference point is a report from Aisha. In Sahih al-Bukhari 1950 she says: "Sometimes I missed some days of Ramadan, but could not fast in lieu of them except in the month of Sha'ban." Sahih Muslim records it as 1146a, in a chapter that allows delaying make-up fasts until before the next Ramadan comes for those who broke the fast for a reason such as sickness, travel or menstruation.

Dar al-Ifta puts it plainly: if there was a valid excuse, there is no obligation to make up the days immediately after Ramadan, and "a person may make up his missed fast days anytime during the upcoming year before the next Ramadan." IslamQA quotes the fiqh encyclopedia Al-Mawsu'ah Al-Fiqhiyyah to the effect that the majority of scholars do not allow delaying past the next Ramadan without an excuse.

The Hanafi school is more relaxed about timing. Shaykh Yusuf Badat of Mathabah explains that the jurists of the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools treat the make-up as due before the next Ramadan, while the stronger Hanafi position is that it is due with the option of reasonable delay, so finishing before Ramadan is preferred but not a strict deadline.

Spread out or back to back, and the days you cannot use

The days do not have to be consecutive. Dar al-Ifta says it is not a condition to make up missed days consecutively and cites a report in al-Daraqutni that a person "can make them up either separately or consecutively, as he wishes." Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin, quoted by IslamQA, reads the same point from the verse itself: the Quran asks for days from other days and does not require them to be in a row.

Some days are off limits for any fast. In Sahih al-Bukhari 1990, Umar ibn al-Khattab reports that the Prophet forbade fasting on the day you break the Ramadan fast and on the day you eat from your sacrifice, that is Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Sahih Muslim 1141a adds that "the days of Tashriq are the days of eating and drinking." IslamQA identifies these as the 11th, 12th and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah and says that make-up fasts kept on them are not valid and must be repeated.

If the next Ramadan arrives first

If the reason for missing the fasts lasted all year, such as an illness that never lifted, pregnancy or nursing, IslamQA and Mathabah both say the person only makes up the fasts once able. Nothing extra is due for the delay itself.

When there was no excuse for the delay, the schools part ways. Dar al-Ifta summarises it this way: Imams Malik, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad hold that the person makes up the fasts and also pays fidya, feeding a poor person for each day, which is the view Dar al-Ifta itself follows; the Hanafi scholars and al-Hasan al-Basri hold that no fidya is due, with or without an excuse. IslamQA reports the majority view requiring fidya, but says it considers the correct view to be that fidya is not required, while paying it to be on the safe side is good.

On one thing they agree: the fasts themselves are still owed. Dar al-Ifta's guidance is to fast the new Ramadan and make up the older days after it.

The six days of Shawwal and your qada

The six fasts of Shawwal come from a hadith in Sahih Muslim 1164a, narrated by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari: whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six fasts of Shawwal, "it would be as if he fasted perpetually." Whether to make up missed days before those six is a question scholars answer differently.

IslamQA quotes Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin, who held that someone who still owes days has not yet fasted Ramadan in full, so the make-up fasts come first; if making them up takes all of Shawwal for a valid reason, the six may be fasted in Dhul-Qa'dah. In a separate answer, IslamQA reports that the majority of jurists allow voluntary fasts before make-up fasts as long as enough time remains before the next Ramadan.

On combining the two in one fast, Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam of the Darul Iftaa in Leicester, writing from the Hanafi school, says it is better to make up the missed fasts first and keep the six separately, but that combining is permitted if the main intention is the make-up fast. These are different answers to a real question, and the choice belongs to you and your scholar.

Common mistakes when catching up

Letting the count drift. After a few years many people are unsure of the number. IslamQA advises that if you are unsure whether you owe six days or seven, six is enough but fasting seven is safer, and that if you remember nothing, you fast what you think most likely fulfils the obligation. Settle on a number and write it down once.

Planning on days that cannot count. A plan of every Monday and Thursday will sometimes land on an Eid or a day of Tashriq. Those days have to be skipped and added at the end, which pushes the finish date out.

Paying fidya instead of fasting when you are able to fast. SeekersGuidance explains that in the Hanafi school the payment is only for someone who cannot fast at all and is not expected to regain the ability. A temporary illness means making up the days.

Working out the finish date by hand. QadaBook keeps the balance, lets you mark it as an estimate, and lays a pace such as Mondays and Thursdays on a calendar that skips Ramadan, the two Eids and the days of Tashriq, then shows the date the balance is expected to reach zero, with Hijri dates alongside.

This guide summarises published views for general information and is not a fatwa. Schools of Islamic law and individual scholars differ on these questions; ask a scholar you trust or your local Islamic authority about your own situation.

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