Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
If you are poor and you cannot offer the fidyah, then you are excused.
Answering your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
If you are suffering from a terminal illness and therefore unable to fast, then you have to offer fidyah by feeding a person who is poor for every day of Ramadan.
If, however, you are poor and you cannot afford to do so, then you are excused. Allah says: “Allah does not place on anyone a burden that he or she cannot bear.” (Al-Baqarah 2:286)
Having said this, I must rush to add: You should pay fidyah, if in case you become eligible to pay.
For more, see these fatwas:
Can a Person with Epilepsy Break the Fasting?
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.