Question: Due to severe illness before my dad past away, he had few days of missed Salah and few missed fasts.
As a family member, what can we offer for the above mentioned Salah and Fasts? As to rest assure that he can rest in peace in the grave.
Answer: If your father made a wasiyah (bequeathed) before the death and leaves behind some estate valuable property which may include cash behind, then from his estate up to one third can be spent to give the kaffarah (expiation).
On the other hand, if his estate value is not enough or has enough but did not make any wasiyah, then it is not wajib on to you to pay the fidya or kaffarah.
However, if you have enough means to pay then it is better for you to pay them off as a means of a najah (salvation) for your father.
Most importantly, out of his heirs, (eligible for inheritance) if one of them has not reached to maturity (buloog) age fidya cannot be paid from his portion of shares. That is to say, only from the property of those who reached the maturity age should be paid.
Few points to note:
1. Due to severe illness, if your father has been unconscious for more than six consecutive waqt (salah time) then no fidya or kaffarah is obligatory. This is due to the fact that he is not mukallaf (not responsible) anymore.
2. However, if your father had the ability to re-do the qadha before his death and did not perform it then fidya should be paid.
The method of paying the fidya:
The fidya for each Salah and fast will be the average price of 1.75 kilograms of wheat/flour multiplied by six Salawat for each day (including witr) and fidya for one fast each day should be given to the needy.
In addition, the easy method to calculate the fidya is as follows: (1) Fidya for each missed Salah is £5 (2) Fidya for each Fast is also £5 (3) Total cost for a day is: £35
Using this simple method can be helpful to calculate exact days and amounts.
Reference: [1] Suratul Baqarah V:184/185 [2] Fatawa Shami vol-2:73 [3] Tahawi [4] Musannaf Abdur Razzaq:16346 [5] I`laus Sunan vol-6, p-2892