Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is compulsory upon a person who delays making up for missed fasts in Ramadan until the next Ramadan comes? أخر قضاء رمضان حتى أتى رمضان الآخر

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.   Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows:   In response to your question, we say: According to the majority of the scholars if a person delays in making up for missed fasts in Ramadan until the next Ramadan comes he should make up for the missed fasts and pay an expiation by feeding the poor. This is based on what was stated by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him). However, some scholars are of the opinion that expiation is not recommended.   The opinion that is closer to the truth from the two opinions is that what is compulsory is to make up for the missed fast only. As for feeding the poor that is an issue which was mentioned by some Sahaba as a recommended issue, and if a person does it then that is good, and if he does not do it then making up for the missed fast will suffice, because Allah the Exalted said, “So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]” [al-Baqarah 2:184] , and he did not obligate anything beside it.