Written by Nursyafilah
Fidyah refers to payment made by persons who missed their obligatory fast in the month of Ramadhan intentionally or unintentionally due to menstruation, illness, pregnancy, and feeding. Any delay to qada’ or repay their missed fasting days before the next Ramadhan makes fidyah obligatory.
What is the religious injunction in respect to Fidyah? In Surah Al-Baqarah verse 183-184
Allah commands:
“O you who have faith! Prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, so that you may be God wary.
That for known days. But should any of you be sick or on a journey, let it be a ( similar) number of other days. Those who find it straining shall be liable to atonement by feeding a needy person. Should anyone do good of his own accord, that is better for him, and to fast is better for you, should you know” .
The payment is made by feeding the poor based on the amount of food required daily. Some may wish to pay fidyah on their own by self-sourcing the people whom they will provide food for whilst others may prefer an organisation to assist them. But how does one know how much to give or what constitutes as sufficient?
There are 3 factors that need to be considered in the calculation of fidyah. Firstly, the amount of fidyah to pay for each day as stipulated according to each country. Secondly, the number of days missed, and thirdly, the quantity per day - determined by the number of years of delayed payment. This can be seen from a simple formula below.
If a person delays fidyah, the amount of fidyah to be paid per day would be multiplied by the number of years missed. For instance, if they did not pay for their missed fast in 2016, which was from 5 years ago, they will need to pay for a quantity 5 times more. Thus, a person is required to pay the summation of all the years missed if they have yet to do so.
Nevertheless, fidyah payment has been made easy in recent years. You are able to find multiple fidyah calculators online. You can even click here to view it.
Traditionally, it was common to directly feed the poor but in today’s time, many scholars have accepted fidyah in the form of monetary value in which the respective organisations in charge would purchase food using the amount received and distribute to those in need, both within and out of the country. Either way, it serves the purpose of providing to those who are in need which is essential to make up for any missed fasting days.
Undoubtedly, fidyah is mainly recognised to serve religious purposes but it also plays a critical role in the social aspect. Feeding the poor reduces the impact of food insecurity and poverty in the society. It is the first step to ensuring proper nutrition is given to the poor which indirectly may result in better economic activity at large.
Similarly, in Gracious Mart, we aim to help the less fortunate through our fidyah and gift packages platform. We believe that everyone can play their part to give back to society. Check out our fidyah/ihsan packages should you wish to contribute.
