Kaffara for Breaking a Fast: Roza Todne ka Kaffara Explained

Kaffara (expiation) is one of the heaviest penalties in the fiqh of fasting, and it is also one of the most misunderstood. Many people think they can simply pay a sum of money, while others think every broken fast needs 60 days of fasting. Neither is right. Below is the hadith it comes from, the order you must follow, what each school counts as a kaffara-level breach, and how to work out the amount in rupees. If you already know your situation, the fidya and kaffara calculator will do the arithmetic for you.

Where kaffara comes from: the hadith

The ruling rests on a well-known hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah and recorded by both Bukhari (1936) and Muslim (1111). A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said he was ruined, because he had had relations with his wife while fasting in Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ asked him whether he could free a slave. He said no. He asked whether he could fast two months in a row. He said no. He asked whether he could feed sixty poor people. Again he said no. Then a large basket of dates was brought, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to give it in charity. The man asked whether there was anyone poorer than his own family in Madinah, and the Prophet ﷺ smiled and told him to feed his family with it.

Three things come out of this hadith that all four schools build on: kaffara is a real obligation, it has a fixed set of options, and the options are asked about one after another. The same three-step pattern appears in the Quran for the kaffara of zihar (Surah al-Mujadilah 58:3-4).

The order: slave, then 60 fasts, then feeding

1. Free a slave. This was the first option, but slavery no longer exists in the sense the fiqh describes, so this step does not apply today. Paying an “equivalent” in money does not replace it.
2. Fast 60 days in a row. For almost everyone today this is the actual kaffara. A healthy adult who can fast must do this; they cannot choose to pay instead.
3. Feed 60 poor people. This is only for a person who genuinely cannot fast 60 consecutive days, for example because of old age or a lasting illness, or because a doctor says such a long fast would cause real harm. Busy work, heat or finding it hard are not enough.

This strict order is the position of the Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools. The Maliki school reads the hadith as giving a choice between the options, and Maliki scholars generally say feeding is the preferred one. If you follow the Maliki school, ask your local scholar how they apply this.

What needs kaffara in each school

Kaffara is only for a Ramadan fast that was validly begun (with the intention) and then broken deliberately, by an adult who knew it was wrong and had no valid excuse such as illness or travel. Beyond that, the schools differ on which acts count.

School	Kaffara is due for	Eating or drinking on purpose	Several days in one Ramadan
Hanafi	Deliberate eating, drinking or intercourse without excuse	Kaffara + qada	One kaffara, if none paid yet
Maliki	Deliberate eating, drinking or intercourse, knowingly violating the fast	Kaffara + qada	One kaffara for each day
Shafi’i	Intercourse only	Qada + repentance, no kaffara	One kaffara for each day
Hanbali	Intercourse only	Qada + repentance, no kaffara	One kaffara for each day

Hanafi

The Hanafi school (as set out in al-Hidayah and followed by Pakistani madrasas) holds that deliberately eating, drinking or having intercourse during a Ramadan fast, without any excuse, needs kaffara. The reasoning is that eating and drinking violate the fast in the same way, so they share the same penalty. Things that are not normally eaten as food or medicine, such as swallowing a pebble, break the fast but need qada only.

Shafi’i and Hanbali

Both schools limit kaffara to intercourse, because that is what the hadith is about. A person who eats or drinks on purpose has committed a serious sin and must repent and make up the day, but owes no kaffara. In the Shafi’i school only the husband owes the kaffara (the stronger view in the school); in the Hanafi school, and in the Maliki and Hanbali schools as generally stated, a wife who consented owes her own kaffara as well.

Maliki

Like the Hanafis, Maliki scholars require kaffara for deliberate eating or drinking as well as intercourse, provided it was done knowingly and in deliberate violation of a Ramadan fast.

What does not need kaffara

Most broken or doubtful fasts do not reach the level of kaffara. In these cases either nothing is owed, or only one qada fast:

• Eating or drinking forgetfully. The fast is not broken at all. The Prophet ﷺ said whoever forgets and eats or drinks should complete the fast, because Allah fed him (Bukhari 1933, Muslim 1155). In the Maliki school such a fast is made up, but there is still no kaffara.
• Vomiting without meaning to. Nothing is owed. Making yourself vomit a mouthful breaks the fast and needs qada only (Abu Dawud 2380, Tirmidhi 720).
• A mistake about the time. Eating after sehri had ended because you thought there was still time, or opening the fast before sunset because you thought the sun had set, needs one qada fast and no kaffara, since it was not a deliberate breach.
• Water going down the throat during wudu or while rinsing the mouth: qada only in the Hanafi view.
• Being forced to break the fast: qada only.
• Breaking the fast for a valid reason such as illness, travel, pregnancy or breastfeeding when there is a real fear of harm: qada only. If the person cannot ever make it up, see roza fidya instead.
• Breaking a qada, nafl or vowed fast outside Ramadan: kaffara is only for Ramadan fasts. A broken qada or nafl fast is simply made up.
• Eating more after the fast is already broken. In the Hanafi view, if someone broke the fast by a mistake (for example, thinking the time for sehri had not ended) and then ate more thinking the fast was gone anyway, it is still qada only.

One kaffara or one for each day?

Suppose someone deliberately broke three fasts in the same Ramadan and has not yet done any kaffara.

• Hanafi: one kaffara covers all three, because kaffaras of the same kind overlap (tadakhul) as long as the first has not been carried out. They still owe three qada fasts. If the person had already completed a kaffara for the first broken fast and then broke another, a new kaffara is due. For fasts broken in different Ramadans, Hanafi scholars differ, and many advise a separate kaffara for each Ramadan, especially where intercourse was involved, so ask your scholar if this is your case.
• Shafi’i and Hanbali: each day broken by intercourse is a separate act needing its own kaffara, so three days means three kaffaras: 180 days of fasting, or 180 poor people fed by someone who cannot fast.
• Maliki: each day likewise needs its own kaffara.

The qada fast as well

Kaffara does not replace the day that was broken. In addition to the kaffara, the person must keep one qada fast for each broken day. So a Hanafi who broke one fast on purpose and is able to fast will keep 61 fasts in total: 60 for the kaffara, which must be continuous, and one for the qada, which can be kept on any day. Sincere tawbah (repentance) is also required, because kaffara wipes out the penalty, but the sin itself is between the person and Allah.

How fasting 60 days in a row works

• No gaps. The 60 fasts must be back to back. Missing even one day, whether by choice, illness or travel, breaks the sequence in the Hanafi view, and the person starts again from day one.
• Choose your window carefully. Fasting is not allowed on Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha and the three days after it (ayyam at-tashriq), so a 60-day block that runs into those days is broken. Ramadan itself cannot be counted either, because its fasts are owed for Ramadan. In practice, many people in Pakistan start in Shawwal after the first few days, or in the winter months when days are short.
• Days or lunar months. In the Hanafi school, if you start on the first day of an Islamic month, two full lunar months count even if they total 59 days. If you start mid-month, count 60 days.
• Women and menstruation. A woman’s monthly period does not break the sequence, because she cannot avoid it and few women have 60 days free of it. She stops on the days of her period and continues straight after, without starting again. Post-natal bleeding (nifas) and illness are treated differently in the Hanafi school and do break the sequence, so if this applies to you, ask your scholar.
• Intention. Make the intention of kaffara for each fast, from the night before (Hanafi), not just a general intention to fast.

Feeding 60 poor people

If you truly cannot fast 60 days in a row, feeding is the replacement. In the Hanafi school there are two ways to do it:

1. Two full meals for each of 60 poor people, for example lunch and dinner, or sehri and iftar, to the point that they are satisfied. The same 60 people should eat both meals.
2. Give each of 60 poor people the amount of one fitrana: half a sa’ of wheat (about 1.75 to 2 kg), or one sa’ of barley, dates or raisins, or the money value of that. The fitrana calculator uses the same per-person amount.

Two rules about the number of people matter here:

• One person on 60 different days is allowed. If you cannot find 60 people, you may give the fitrana amount (or two meals) to one poor person every day for 60 days. Each day counts as one person.
• One person all at once on one day is not. Handing one person 60 fitrana amounts on a single day counts as feeding one person only, in the Hanafi view. You would still owe 59.

In the Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali schools each person gets one mudd of the local staple food (about 0.6 kg of wheat or rice), which is less than the Hanafi half sa’, and these schools generally expect food rather than money. The recipients must be people who are eligible for zakat, though not your own parents, children or wife (a wife giving to a poor husband is disputed); see who can receive zakat.

Kaffara in rupees: a worked example

The numbers below are hypothetical, only to show the method. Use the fitrana amount your scholars announce this Ramadan, or the local price of about 2 kg of wheat flour.

Example 1: fitrana method

For Ramadan 1447 (February 2026) the Council of Islamic Ideology gave Rs 300 per person by wheat. One kaffara by feeding is 60 × Rs 300 = Rs 18,000. If the person can afford it, paying by the dates rate (Rs 1,600 per person) gives 60 × Rs 1,600 = Rs 96,000, which carries more reward but is not required. Use the amounts announced for your year.

Example 2: meals method

Suppose a simple meal costs Rs 250. Two meals for 60 people is 60 × 2 × Rs 250 = Rs 30,000.

Example 3: three broken fasts

Bilal, elderly and diabetic, deliberately broke three fasts in one Ramadan and cannot fast 60 days. Under the Hanafi view he owes one kaffara (Rs 18,000 at the example rate) plus three qada fasts, or three fidya payments if he can never fast again. A Shafi’i in the same position owes nothing beyond qada for eating, but if the three days were broken by intercourse he owes three kaffaras.

The kaffara calculator multiplies the number of kaffaras by 60 and by the amount per person, so you only need to enter those two figures.

Contrast: kaffara for a broken oath

People often confuse fasting kaffara with the kaffara for breaking an oath (qasam). The oath kaffara is much lighter and is set out in Surah al-Ma’idah 5:89: feed ten poor people, or clothe them, or free a slave. Only a person who cannot do any of these fasts three days. In the Hanafi school those three days must be in a row. So “kaffara of 10 people” belongs to oaths, while “kaffara of 60” belongs to a deliberately broken Ramadan fast.

Common mistakes

• Paying money when you can fast. If you are healthy enough to fast 60 days, feeding is not an option.
• Forgetting the qada fast. The kaffara does not cover the broken day itself.
• Giving all 60 shares to one person in one day and counting it as complete (Hanafi).
• Treating forgetful eating or a sehri mistake as kaffara. These need nothing or qada only.
• Restarting after a period. Menstruation pauses the sequence; it does not reset it.
• Planning a 60-day block across Eid. Eid days cannot be fasted and will break the sequence.
• Mixing up fidya and kaffara. Fidya is for fasts a person can never make up; kaffara is a penalty for a deliberate breach.

What to do now

1. Work out whether your case is kaffara, qada only or fidya, using your own madhab’s rules above.
2. If kaffara is due and you can fast, pick a 60-day window with no Eid days and begin with the intention of kaffara.
3. If you genuinely cannot fast, find the current fitrana amount and enter it in the fidya and kaffara calculator.
4. Keep the qada fasts too, and make sincere tawbah.
5. If your case has a complication, such as illness partway through or several Ramadans involved, ask a scholar you trust.

Frequently asked questions