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Is the expiation of fasting for two consecutive months for a couple who had intercourse during the daytime in Ramadan waived for someone who travels daily a distance of 200 km, and can he switch to feeding sixty poor people? Is it permissible to pay the expiation in cash, and what is its value? Must it be paid before the next Ramadan?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If it is difficult to transfer to a nearby job or take sufficient leave to fast for two months, the fasting obligation is dropped, and one moves to feeding [the poor]. This is because long travel for work permits not fasting, analogous to breaking the fast in Ramadan for a traveler.

The expiation is to feed sixty poor people, each receiving a "mudd" (approximately 750 grams) of the staple food of the land, paid as food. It is permissible to pay the value [in money] if there are no poor people who accept food, or if their need for money is greater. Some contemporary scholars believe that paying the value is preferable today because it is more beneficial for the poor. The value is estimated according to the price of food in the country.

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

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