Fidya and Kaffarah in Ramadan: What Is the Difference?
Three different concepts
Qada means making up a missed fast. Fidya is compensation associated with certain cases of inability to fast. Kaffarah is an expiation connected to particular violations and is not simply a fee for any missed day. Mixing these terms can lead users to the wrong religious action.
Why a calculator needs limits
Food quantities, cash equivalents and the circumstances in which fidya or kaffarah applies can vary by school and local authority. A calculator can multiply a user-provided local amount, but it should not decide whether the user owes fidya or kaffarah. That is why the site treats the amount as an input and places the legal decision outside the arithmetic.
Keep evidence with the ruling
When this site describes a position, it should identify whether it is a broadly shared ruling or a school-specific view. Users should not infer that a numerical output is itself a fatwa.
Examples that should not be collapsed together
A person who is temporarily ill may need qada later; a person permanently unable to fast may fall into a fidya discussion; deliberately invalidating a fast in a circumstance that attracts kaffarah is another category again. A single “missed fast fee” calculator would blur these distinctions.
Local values change
Where an authority permits or specifies a cash equivalent for fidya, the value can change with food prices and currency. Date the amount and cite the organisation rather than leaving an old number on a timeless page.
Why the cause of a missed fast matters
A missed day through temporary illness, a deliberately invalidated fast and permanent inability are not interchangeable cases. The same “one day missed” input cannot safely produce one legal answer. That is why the guide first identifies the category before discussing arithmetic.
School differences
Details of fidya and kaffarah differ across schools of law, including some pregnancy and breastfeeding cases and the circumstances that trigger a major expiation. A global website should name the view being described instead of presenting a local answer as unanimous.
Local value
Where fidya is expressed through feeding or a cash equivalent, the practical amount can vary by locality and year. Use the value supplied by the recognised organisation or scholar you follow and keep the publication year with it.