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Is it permissible to stop preparing "Mawa'id Al-Rahman" (Iftar meals for the poor) that you vowed to make and distribute to the needy during Ramadan due to financial hardship, with the intention of resuming them after the crisis is over?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

We see that a person's covenant with their Lord to perform a specific act can be a vow (nadhr) and an oath (yameen) if the commitment is to an act of worship and obedience, or an oath only if the commitment is to something that is not an act of worship. The outcome of this detail is that whatever was a vow must be fulfilled if possible, and whatever was an oath, one has the choice between fulfilling it or offering expiation. Based on this, if you intended to continue organizing 'Mawa'id Al-Rahman' (Iftar tables for the needy) for the rest of your life and then became unable, you would be obligated to offer two expiations for an oath: one for the oath and the other for the vow. However, if you did not intend to continue for the rest of your life, then you have fulfilled your vow and honored your oath since the first year, and nothing is due from you if you stop.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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