Fidya and Kaffarah in 2027 are the two payments that settle a Ramadan fast you could not keep or did not keep. In the UK, Fidya is £5 for each missed fast, which is £150 for a full 30 day Ramadan. Kaffarah is £300 for each fast broken on purpose without a valid reason. Fidya is for people who cannot fast and will never be able to make the days up. Kaffarah is for people who were able to fast and chose to break it.
Both payments feed people in need, so a missed fast becomes a meal for someone else. Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin on Monday 8 February 2027, subject to moon sighting. If you already know you cannot fast, you can work out what you owe below and give your Fidya or Kaffarah through Human Concern UK as soon as it falls due.
At Human Concern UK, Fidya is £5 per missed fast and Kaffarah is £300 per broken fast. The table shows the common totals.
What you owe | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Fidya for 1 missed fast | Feeds 1 person for a day | £5 |
Fidya for 10 missed fasts | 10 x £5 | £50 |
Fidya for a 29 day Ramadan | 29 x £5 | £145 |
Fidya for a 30 day Ramadan | 30 x £5 | £150 |
Kaffarah for 1 broken fast | Feeds 60 people, 60 x £5 | £300 |
Kaffarah for 2 broken fasts | 2 x £300 | £600 |
Ramadan lasts 29 or 30 days depending on the moon. If you pay Fidya for the whole month at the start of Ramadan, pay for 30 days. Any extra counts as Sadaqah.
Fidya is the cost of feeding one person in need for one day. The Quran sets the principle and leaves the price to local costs, which is why the figure in pounds is reviewed each year.
In the Hanafi school, the measure for each fast is half a sa’ of wheat, about 1.6 kg, or its value. This is the same measure used for Zakat al-Fitr. The other schools set it as one mudd of the local staple food. UK charities turn this into a cash figure. For Ramadan 2026, published UK rates ranged from £4 to £7 per fast, and £5 was the most common.
Kaffarah is the cost of feeding sixty people, so it is sixty times the daily rate. It is an expiation for a serious act, not a simple replacement for a fast. At £5 a person, that comes to £300 for each fast.
Fidya is a payment that feeds one person in need for each Ramadan fast you cannot keep and cannot make up later. The word means a ransom or compensation. It is a mercy from Allah, not a penalty, and there is no sin on the person who pays it for a valid reason.
Fidya comes directly from the Quran. Allah says:
“So whoever among you is ill or on a journey, then an equal number of other days. And upon those who are able to fast only with hardship, a ransom of feeding a poor person.” (Al-Baqarah 2:184)
Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) explained who this ayah applies to. He said it is for the old man and the old woman who are unable to fast, so they feed one poor person for each day (Sahih al-Bukhari 4505). Scholars apply the same ruling to anyone with a lasting illness that makes fasting unsafe.
The next ayah gives the reason: “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship” (Al-Baqarah 2:185). Fidya lets a person who cannot fast still take part in Ramadan, by feeding someone who is hungry.
You must pay Fidya if you cannot fast in Ramadan and have no realistic hope of making up the fasts later. This covers two main groups, and some schools add two more.
Who | What is due | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Elderly people too frail to fast | Fidya for each day | Agreed by the scholars, based on Sahih al-Bukhari 4505 |
People with a chronic or terminal illness | Fidya for each day | Where a doctor advises that fasting is unsafe and recovery is not expected |
Pregnant or breastfeeding women who fear for the baby only | Make up the fasts, plus Fidya in some schools | The Shafi’i and Hanbali schools add Fidya. The Hanafi school requires making up the fasts only |
Anyone who delayed making up fasts until the next Ramadan without a reason | Make up the fasts, plus Fidya in some schools | The Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali schools add Fidya for each day. The Hanafi school does not |
If you have a health condition, speak to your GP before Ramadan and then to a scholar you trust. Our guide on who is exempt from fasting in Ramadan explains each group in detail.
You do not pay Fidya if you are able to make up your missed fasts later. Fidya is never a way to buy out of fasting when you are able to fast.
If you paid Fidya and later recover enough to fast, the Hanafi school says you should make up those fasts. The Fidya you gave counts as Sadaqah.
Kaffarah is the expiation due when a person deliberately breaks a Ramadan fast without a valid reason. The word comes from a root meaning to cover, because it covers the wrong that was done. It is far heavier than Fidya because the fast was broken by choice.
Kaffarah is established by an authentic hadith. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “I am ruined.” He had been intimate with his wife while fasting in Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ asked if he could free a slave, and he said no. He asked if he could fast two months in a row, and he said no. He asked if he could feed sixty poor people, and he said no (Sahih al-Bukhari 1936, Sahih Muslim 1111).
The hadith ends with mercy. A basket of dates was brought to the Prophet ﷺ, and he told the man to give it in charity. The man said no family in Madinah was poorer than his own. The Prophet ﷺ laughed and said, “Feed your family with it.” Kaffarah is serious, yet its purpose is to bring a person back to Allah, not to crush them.
You owe Kaffarah if you broke a fast of Ramadan on purpose, knowing you were fasting, with no valid excuse. The four schools agree on one case and differ on another.
How the fast was broken | Hanafi and Maliki | Shafi’i and Hanbali |
|---|---|---|
Marital intimacy during the fast, on purpose | Kaffarah, and make up the day | Kaffarah, and make up the day |
Eating or drinking on purpose | Kaffarah, and make up the day | Make up the day and repent. No Kaffarah |
Because the schools differ, ask a scholar who knows your situation before you pay.
You fulfil Kaffarah by fasting sixty days in a row, and you feed sixty people only if you are truly unable to do that. The hadith lists three steps in order: free a slave, then fast two consecutive months, then feed sixty poor people. The first no longer applies today.
The Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools hold that the order is binding. A healthy person cannot skip the sixty fasts and pay £300 in their place. Paying is for someone who cannot manage the fasts because of age, illness or a similar lasting reason. The Maliki school allows a choice between the three and prefers feeding.
The sixty fasts must be continuous. If you break the chain without a valid reason, you begin again. A woman’s monthly period does not break the chain, and she continues once it ends. Most scholars say you must also make up the original day, so the total is sixty one fasts.
Qada means making up a missed fast with another fast, Fidya means feeding one person for a fast you can never make up, and Kaffarah is the expiation for breaking a fast on purpose. The table sets them side by side.
| Qada | Fidya | Kaffarah |
|---|---|---|---|
When it applies | A fast missed for a temporary reason | A fast missed for a lasting reason | A Ramadan fast broken on purpose |
Typical cases | Short illness, travel, menstruation | Old age, chronic illness | Intimacy while fasting. Eating or drinking in the Hanafi and Maliki schools |
What you do | Fast one day for each day missed | Feed one person for each day | Fast 60 days in a row, or feed 60 people if unable |
UK amount in 2027 | No payment | £5 per fast | £300 per fast |
Is there sin? | No | No | Yes, so repentance is also needed |
Evidence | Al-Baqarah 2:184 | Al-Baqarah 2:184, Sahih al-Bukhari 4505 | Sahih al-Bukhari 1936, Sahih Muslim 1111 |
You can pay in four short steps.
Human Concern UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Commission No. 1206222), based in Manchester. If you are also paying Zakat this Ramadan, our Zakat Calculator will work out what you owe.
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