Making Up an Expiation
Question: I must fast two consecutive months as an expiation. If I complete one month and that month turns out—by calculation—to be one day short, must I still make up a full sixty days, or is it sufficient to fast two lunar months as they occur? Please advise, and may Allah bless you.
Answer: If you began fasting with the sighting of the crescent, you fast two months according to the crescents, whether each month is complete (thirty days) or deficient (twenty-nine days). However, if you started fasting in the middle of a month, you must fast sixty days, for in that case you are counting the days—two months by number, i.e., sixty days. There is therefore a difference between fasting by the crescents and fasting by numerical count.
If you begin the fast with the crescent, you are responsible only for the period between the two crescents: two lunar months, whether full or short. But if you start during the month, you have chosen the numerical method, so you fast thirty days and another thirty days—two consecutive months by count, totalling sixty days.
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Delaying an Expiation
Question: My father has been required to fast two consecutive months as an expiation for a very long time, yet he has never done so. He kept putting it off, and to this day he has not fasted. He is now unable to fast because of his advanced age. What should be done in this situation? Is there something else that would discharge the obligation on his behalf? May we fast for him? And is he sinful for delaying it when he was capable of performing it?
Answer: This is a broad question; it does not specify the type of expiation that was obligatory for him