Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling of a person who neglected making up the missed fasts of Ramadan and had no excuse for that? ما حكم من تكاسل عن قضاء الصيام بغير عذر؟

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:   That person should fast in compensation for the missed days if another Ramadan comes along without him having fasted to make up for the missed days of the previous Ramadan.  This is because Allah 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 mention feeding the poor. This indicates that only fasting is compulsory. However, if a person wants to fast and feed the poor he may do so but it is not compulsory.