What is kaffarah for breaking a fast?
Kaffarah is a heavy expiation for deliberately breaking a Ramadan fast by sexual intercourse: fasting 60 days in a row, or if you truly can't, feeding 60 poor people. It does not apply to forgetting, illness, travel, or fasts outside Ramadan. Schools differ on whether deliberate eating also requires it.
Where kaffarah comes from
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ saying he was ruined because he had slept with his wife during a Ramadan day. The Prophet ﷺ asked if he could free a slave; he couldn't. Then whether he could fast two consecutive months; he couldn't. Then whether he could feed sixty poor people; he couldn't. In the end the Prophet ﷺ gave him a basket of dates to give in charity, and when the man said no family was poorer than his, the Prophet ﷺ smiled and told him to feed his own family with it (Sahih al-Bukhari 1936).
The story shows two things at once: deliberately breaking a Ramadan fast is serious, and the Prophet ﷺ met a repentant person with mercy, not anger.
The order of kaffarah
- Freeing a slave: this no longer exists today.
- Fasting 60 consecutive days: the standard kaffarah now. If you break the chain without a valid excuse, you start again. A period or illness doesn't break the chain for most scholars.
- Feeding 60 poor people: only if you genuinely cannot fast two months, for example due to health.
You also make up the broken day itself and sincerely repent.
Does eating or drinking on purpose need kaffarah?
Scholars differ:
- Hanafi and Maliki: yes, deliberately eating or drinking during a Ramadan day without an excuse also requires kaffarah.
- Shafi'i and Hanbali: no, kaffarah is only for intercourse. Eating on purpose is a major sin that needs repentance and a make-up day.
When there is no kaffarah
- Eating or drinking by mistake: just carry on fasting. "Whoever forgets while fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for it is Allah who fed him" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1933).
- Breaking the fast because of illness, travel, a period or real hardship: make up the day only.
- Breaking a make-up or voluntary fast: no kaffarah.
- Things that don't break the fast at all, like swallowing saliva. See Does swallowing my spit break my fast?
Kissing your spouse doesn't automatically break the fast either; see Does kissing break your fast? Note that kaffarah for a broken oath is a different, lighter expiation.
- Kaffarah applies to deliberate intercourse on a Ramadan day.
- It is 60 consecutive fasts, or feeding 60 poor people if unable.
- Hanafis and Malikis extend it to deliberate eating and drinking.
- Mistakes and valid excuses need no kaffarah.
People also ask
What is i'tikaf?
I'tikaf is staying in a mosque for worship, especially in the last ten days of Ramadan. It's a sunnah, and even one night or a few hours can count.
Read the full answer →Can women fast on their period?
No, women don't fast on their period and a fast kept during it isn't valid. Missed Ramadan days are made up later, unlike prayers, which are forgiven.
Read the full answer →What is fidya in Islam?
Fidya in Islam is feeding one poor person for each Ramadan fast you can never make up, paid by the elderly and chronically ill. Here's how much.
Read the full answer →Do I have to make up missed Ramadan fasts?
Yes, missed Ramadan fasts must be made up, one day for each day missed, before the next Ramadan. People who can never fast pay fidya instead.
Read the full answer →Do I have to make an intention to fast every night?
It depends on the school: most say a Ramadan fast needs an intention each night, Malikis accept one for the month. The niyyah is in your heart.
Read the full answer →