The practice of isqat is established by an explicit verse of the Noble Qur'an, by the noble hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), by reports transmitted from the great jurists among the Companions, and by the consensus (ijma) of the scholars and jurists (fuqaha) of the Ummah. On this page the evidences are presented in order.
1. The Evidence from the Noble Qur'an
"And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] — a ransom (fidyah): the feeding of a poor person." Surah al-Baqarah, verse 184
When the responsible person becomes unable, through permanent incapacity (ajz da'im), to perform prayer and fasting bodily, this noble verse is the explicit text (nass) establishing that fasting debts are discharged (isqat) by the payment of fidyah. The verse commands that it is wajib upon one who has no strength to fast at its time nor to make it up (qada) afterwards, to give — for each day of fasting — one day's food of a poor person.
2. The Hadith "Let a Poor Person Be Fed in Its Place for Each Day"
"Whoever dies with a month's fasting (debt) upon him — let (his guardian) feed a poor person on his behalf in place of each day of fasting." al-Tirmidhi (718); Ibn Majah (1757)
3. The Hadith "The Debt Owed to Allah Is More Deserving of Payment"
A man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, my mother has died, and she owed a month of fasting." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Tell me — if your mother owed a debt to someone, would you pay that debt for her?" The man said: "Yes, I would pay it." Thereupon he said: "Then the debt owed to Allah is more deserving and more worthy of being paid." Agreed upon (al-Bukhari and Muslim) — from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both)
With this noble hadith the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) declared in explicit terms that fasting debts must be settled by the payment of fidyah. By the indication of this hadith, the payment of the debts owed to Allah that rest upon the liability of a deceased Muslim — hajj, kaffarah (expiation), vows and the like — is wajib. And since a fasting debt must be settled by giving fidyah, it follows with even greater priority that the debts of monetary worship must, as wajib and necessary, be paid out of the estate of the deceased.
If the deceased has no wealth from which fidyah may be given, then it is valid for others to donate and pay the fidyah of his debts; the obligation is lifted from the deceased, and reward accrues to the one who donates (Lawami' al-'Uqul, vol. 1, p. 445).
4. The Report Indicating That Fidyah Is Also Given for Prayer
"No one may pray on behalf of another, and no one may fast on behalf of another; but (the guardian, for the debts of the deceased) feeds in his place, for each day, a mudd of wheat (that is, he gives fidyah and feeds the poor)." al-Nasa'i, al-Sunan al-Kubra (2930); al-Tahawi, Sharh Mushkil al-Athar; Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Tamhid — from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) · (al-Durar and Ibn Abidin, vol. 2, p. 122)
By the indication of this report it is established that prayer is exactly like fasting, and that giving fidyah for prayer debts, just as for fasting debts, is wajib and necessary. Since this report is mawquf — halted at Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) — there is a possibility that it is his own statement; yet it is an undeniable truth that the word of a Companion of the Messenger of Allah, and above all of so great a scholar and jurist among the most learned of the Companions as Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), constitutes a strong evidence.
5. The Consensus of the Scholars and the Evidence of Istihsan
The leading scholars and jurists (fuqaha) have agreed unanimously that the obligation of giving fidyah for prayer debts is, by juristic preference (istihsan), like that of fasting. The reasoning is as follows:
- Prayer, like fasting, is a bodily act of worship — indeed more important than fasting.
- The giving of fidyah for fasting is established by explicit text (nass); prayer has been judged by analogy (qiyas) with fasting through the istihsan of the scholars.
- Just as the resemblance between fasting and the feeding of the poor (it'am) is established in the Sacred Law, so too is the resemblance between prayer and fasting established in their both being bodily worship.
- The like of the like of a thing is also its like. Therefore the ruling established by nass concerning fasting may validly and soundly serve as the ruling for prayer, which is the like of fasting. The jurists have accepted and declared this unanimously.
Accordingly: just as it is established by nass that giving fidyah for fasting debts is wajib, so it is established by the consensus (ijma) and agreement of the scholars and jurists of the Ummah that giving fidyah for prayer debts is likewise wajib (Ibn Abidin, vol. 2, p. 121; Maraqi al-Falah with al-Tahtawi, p. 237).
6. The Hadiths on the Necessity of Adhering to the Community
To stand in opposition, with intent to annul, to a religious ruling upon which the scholars and mujtahids are agreed is a grave error and a heavy sin. On this matter the following noble hadiths have been transmitted:
"Whoever separates from the community (of Ahl al-Sunnah) even by a hand's span has surely cast off the yoke of Islam from his neck." Abu Dawud (4758); Ahmad (21561) — from Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him)
"Whoever separates from the community is in the Fire upon his face." — That is: because he has turned his face away from the path of guidance and the path of the Muslims, he is cast into the Fire upon his face. al-Tabarani — from Sa'd ibn Junadah (may Allah be pleased with him) · (Lawami' al-'Uqul, vol. 4, p. 504)
These hadiths indicate that it is wajib to follow the great majority of the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah.