Women Islamic laws

Q: My father was required to observe a few years’ compensatory fasts. I don’t know whether he had accomplished them; furthermore, there is no mention of this within his will. What is the duty of his eldest son?

A: Assuming the eldest son knows, with certainty, that his father died leaving a number of compensatory fasts unfulfilled, he must observe them.

Q: May the eldest son use some of his deceased father’s estate in order to hire someone to observe his father‘s unfulfilled compensatory fasts?

A: No, the eldest son ought to observe the fasts himself or pay out of his own pocket in relation to hiring someone else. He does not have the right to spend from the estate unless his father had stipulated it in his will.

Q: Assuming one is obliged to observe both his own compensatory fasts as well as those of his deceased father’s compensatory fasts, which obligation has priority over the other?

A: Since both acts are obligatory, there exists no priority between the two.

Q: Assuming a father’s only child is a daughter, would the father‘s compensatory fasts be binding upon the daughter after the father‘s demise?

A: No, it won’t.

Q: What is the duty of one who was ill for a number of years thus neither being capable of observing one’s fasts, during the month of Ramadan, nor one’s compensatory fasts?

A: On recovery, assuming there remains sufficient time until the start of the following month of Ramadan, one must observe the compensatory fasts related to the last Ramadan month. Concerning all the years previous to that, one is not obligated to observe the compensatory fasts but rather pay ¾ kg of food for each missed fast.

Q: I used to experience nocturnal emissions before 14 years of age; however, I didn’t know that nocturnal emissions were a sign of puberty and so I only started fasting at 15. Ought I to pay kaffārah in addition to observing my compensatory fasts?

A: Observing the compensatory fasts is obligatory; assuming you were justifiably ignorant with respect to the matter, paying kaffārah won’t be necessary.