b) If the inability is permanent—such as old age or chronic illnesses for which no recovery is expected—he must feed one needy person for every day he does not fast.

The condition of “being resident” excludes the traveler: a traveler is not obliged to fast but must make up the same number of days later.

“Free of impediments” refers to menstruating and post-partum women; fasting is neither required of them nor lawful for them at that time, yet they must make up the missed days afterward.

The fast of Ramadan lasts for the number of days in the month—either twenty-nine or thirty—according to the sighting of the crescent moon. The Prophet ﷺ said, “When you sight it, begin the fast; when you sight it, end the fast. If it is obscured from you, then complete the count as thirty.” This means thirty days of Shaʿbān when the doubt arises at the beginning of the month, or thirty days of Ramadan when the doubt arises at its end.

The fifth pillar is the “pilgrimage to the House,” that is, traveling to Allah’s Sacred House to perform the rites He detailed in His Book and on the tongue of His Messenger ﷺ. Pilgrimage to the House (Hajj) is one of the pillars of Islam, and included within it is the ‘umrah, which the Prophet ﷺ called the “lesser Hajj.” It, too, has conditions, among them reaching puberty and having sound intellect,