What should my 54-year-old mother do, who previously broke her fast in Ramadan with and without a valid excuse, and is now repentant, but does not know the number of days she missed and is unable to fast all of them?

All praise is due to Allah, who bestowed upon your mother the gift of repentance. We ask Him, the Almighty, to grant her steadfastness in that and to enable her to make up for the fasting days she missed. There is no difference in the obligation of making up for fasts, whether they were missed due to an excuse or without one.

If she is unable to make up the fasts due to a continuous inability, such as old age or an illness from which recovery is not hoped for, then she must feed one poor person for each day (a mudd of food). There is no expiation due for the delay if she was unaware of the impermissibility of delaying. However, if she was aware of the impermissibility of delaying the make-up fasts until after the next Ramadan and she did delay them, then she owes an expiation for each day (a mudd of food for each poor person).

If she is not continuously unable but rather capable of making up the fasts, then she must make them up until she becomes unable. If the inability is expected to cease, she should wait until she is able to fast and then make them up. If it is a complete inability to fast, then she transitions to feeding. If Allah decrees her death before she completes the make-up fasts, then food is to be given from her inheritance.

In the event of her ignorance or forgetfulness of the number of days she missed, she should strive and fast until she is reasonably sure that she has made up the days she owes, or feed the poor if she is unable, as previously mentioned.