How can the prayer and fasting debt of a deceased Muslim be paid?
Such worships as fasting and the prayer are personal obligations that must be performed by every Muslim. For this reason, every Muslim can only pay this debt by performing the prayer himself and by fasting in the Ramadan himself. While he is alive, these worships cannot be performed by his relatives or by any other people in his stead. The situation is also the same after he is dead. In one of his hadiths, Prophet Muhammad, peace, and blessings be upon him, expresses this matter as follows: “No one can fast in some other’s stead, nor perform the prayer in any other’s stead; however, one can give others meals in his name.” (1) The issue of giving others meals, as is stated in the 184th verse of Al-Baqarah Surah and in some hadiths, is giving foods to a poor person so that his hunger is satisfied; for each day of fasting that is not performed, one such person is given foods. In a hadith narrated by Ibn-i Omar, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says: “If a Muslim dies with a debt of a
