Who Needs to Pay Fidyah? Fidyah or Qada Explained

If you are asking who needs to pay fidyah, start with why the fast was missed and whether it can be made up. MUIS's definition focuses on people unable to fast and unable to make up the days; Muslim.sg separately explains circumstances involving pregnancy and breastfeeding. The table below keeps those cases distinct.

1Who needs to pay fidyah, and who needs qada?

Fidyah and qada describe different ways of addressing missed fasts.

Qada, also written qadha’, means making up the missed fasting days. MUIS describes fidyah as obligatory compensation, normally through food for poor or needy people, for someone unable to fast and unable to make up the days because of circumstances such as chronic illness, old age or prolonged health conditions. Its factsheet adds the important condition that the person is unlikely to be able to make up those fasts. Sources: MUIS definition¹ and MUIS factsheet².

Use the table to find your situation; it is not a medical assessment.

The pregnancy and breastfeeding rows follow Muslim.sg's Ramadan FAQ⁴. If your circumstances do not match a row, ask your ustaz or the Office of the Mufti before choosing a payment route.

2Do elderly people have to make up fasts?

The elderly case here concerns people who no longer have the strength to fast, not everyone who has reached a particular age.

In Sahih al-Bukhari, Ibn Abbas explains the verse about feeding a poor person as applying to “old men and old women who have no strength to fast”, who should feed a poor person for each missed fasting day instead. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 4505⁵.

This gives the family a more useful starting point than age alone: establish whether the person can fast and whether making up the days is realistically possible. MUIS's definition addresses both inability to fast and inability to make up the missed days; it should not be shortened to “elderly people pay fidyah”.

3What about pregnant and breastfeeding women?

For a nursing mother, Muslim.sg⁴ says the same ruling applies.

When seeking advice, explain what prompted the missed fast: concern for your own wellbeing, concern involving the child, or circumstances you cannot confidently place in either category. That detail helps avoid treating different situations as interchangeable.

If your concern was for the child alone, ask for a ruling on that case rather than relying on a table row that does not precisely describe it.

4Does delaying qada mean I should pay instead?

Do not treat a delay as proof that your case belongs in the permanent-inability category.

MUIS's announcement lists continued illness, travel, pregnancy and breastfeeding as valid reasons for delaying repayment of fasting. That statement recognises reasons for delay; it does not establish that each circumstance automatically requires fidyah instead of qada. Source: MUIS announcement³.

Aisha's report also records making up missed Ramadan days in Sha'ban: “Sometimes I missed some days of Ramadan, but could not fast in lieu of them except in the month of Sha'ban.” It shows that making up missed days later in the year, before the next Ramadan, is the normal route. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 1950⁶.

For personal advice, keep a record of the missed days, the original reason and what prevented you from making them up. This is a practical preparation step, not a calculation formula. If the missed days are from earlier years, MUIS no longer requires compounded fidyah by default; ask your ustaz how to settle them.

SedekahSGPay fidyah with SedekahSGChoose the number of days you owe and pay online in a few minutes, for yourself or on behalf of a loved one who has passed away.Support now →

5Is fidyah the same as kafarah?

No. MUIS defines kafarah as compensation for intentionally violating religious obligations or oaths.

That is different from the inability-based fidyah definition used above. A similar payment term does not make the underlying obligations interchangeable. Source: MUIS factsheet².

The factsheet shows the distinction by stating that kafarah jimak is equivalent to feeding 60 people, while kafarah yamin is equivalent to feeding 10. Those figures describe the named kafarah categories, not a general fidyah calculation. If the issue involves a deliberate violation or an oath, seek advice identifying the obligation before making a payment.

6What should you check before paying?

Confirm the obligation before the amount.

For the money side, MUIS's announcement specifies fidyah at S$4.00 per day and says fidyah and kafarah may be paid throughout the year as obligations arise. These figures come from MUIS's Ramadan 2026 announcement; check MUIS for any later rate change. Source: MUIS announcement³.

Once you know how many days you owe, you can pay on SedekahSG's fidyah page, where fidyah is a flat S$5 per day, or through MUIS's official channels at its published rate. For questions about payment administration, use SedekahSG's contact page; for a religious ruling, take the circumstances to your ustaz or the Office of the Mufti.

To learn who we are, read about SedekahSG. Voluntary giving, such as Food Aid for Madrasah, is separate from fidyah and does not replace it.