I keep putting off the days I owe. Is there a deadline?
The recommended deadline is before the next Ramadan. If you let it pass without an excuse, most scholars hold that besides making the days up you must feed a poor person for each one; others require only the make-up. If the delay was due to continued illness or pregnancy, that second part generally does not apply.
The honest answer turns on your circumstances. What it hinges on is below.
The Qur’an sets no explicit cut-off, only that they be made up on other days: “Fasting for a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey during them - then an equal number of other days are to be made up. And upon those who are able to fast, but with hardship - a ransom as substitute of feeding a poor person each day. And whoever volunteers good i.e., excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.” (Qur’an 2:184)
From the practice of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions, scholars understood the normal window to run until the following Ramadan. Beyond that the positions diverge:
- The majority hold that someone who delayed without excuse past the next Ramadan must make the days up and feed a poor person for each day delayed.
- Others hold that making them up is enough, with nothing added.
What your case depends on:
1. Why it was delayed. Prolonged illness, successive pregnancies and periods of nursing, or a chronic condition are recognised excuses, and with them the second obligation normally falls away. 2. How long has passed. A year is not fifteen years. 3. Which school you follow, for the disputed part.
The practical step, while you ask: start making them up now, without waiting for a ruling. Mondays and Thursdays, or the short days of winter, are the usual way of clearing them without it becoming a burden.
And a note: the debt does not grow by being looked at. Many people delay because the number overwhelms them, and the number is exactly as large a year from now.
- Qur’anQur’an 2:184