Do elderly people have to fast?

Detailed answer

Age alone does not remove the duty to fast; what matters is ability. An older person who is healthy and can fast without serious hardship should fast. But an elderly person who is too weak to fast, or for whom fasting causes real harm, is excused. Instead of fasting, they give fidya: feeding one poor person for each day missed. They do not need to make up the days.

What the Quran and Sunnah say

Allah says: "And for those who can fast only with great difficulty, a ransom: feeding a poor person" (Al-Baqarah 2:184). Al-Bukhari reports that Ibn Abbas said this applies to the elderly man and the elderly woman who are unable to fast: they feed a poor person for each day. Allah also reminds us that He intends ease for us, not hardship (Al-Baqarah 2:185).

In practice

• Healthy and able: fasts as normal, with extra care about rest and water.
• Too weak to fast, but of sound mind: does not fast and gives fidya for each day; see what fidya is.
• Able on some days but not others: fasts on the days they can; for the other days, ask a local scholar whether to make them up or give fidya.
• Lost mental capacity (for example advanced dementia): many scholars hold that there is no duty to fast and no fidya, because religious duties require a sound mind.

If an elderly relative insists on fasting

Many older Muslims love the fast and find it hard to give up. Gently remind them that using Allah's permission is also obedience, and that fasting when it harms them is not what Allah asks of them. It can help to hear this from their doctor, ideally one who understands fasting, or from a scholar they trust. If they take medication, their doctor should review it before Ramadan.

Still part of Ramadan

Even without fasting, older people can share fully in the month through prayer, dhikr, dua, listening to the Quran, joining the family for iftar and giving charity. The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught that when someone falls ill or travels, the reward of the good deeds they used to do is still written for them (Bukhari).

See also fasting with a chronic illness.