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‹Kaffarah Calculator

Kaffārah Calculator

Expiation,
settled.

Work out the classical kaffārah (expiation) owed — broken Ramadan fasts, broken oaths, or ẓihār — with cash equivalents for the feeding branches in your local currency.

When this applies

Intentionally breaking a Ramadan fast without a valid excuse (e.g. marital relations during daylight) — one kaffārah per broken day.

Tartīb — in orderBukhari 1936, Muslim 1111

One kaffārah per broken fast or broken oath. Three intentional broken Ramadan fasts → three kaffārahs.

S$

Default is a conservative estimate for one simple local meal. Adjust to the real cost of feeding one person in your area.

Options (in order — move to the next only if unable)

  1. 01

    Fast 60 consecutive days

    Two full lunar months of continuous fasting. A single day missed (without a valid reason) restarts the count from the beginning.

    60 days total · 60 per kaffārah

  2. 02

    Feed 60 poor people

    If unable to fast two consecutive months, feed sixty poor Muslims — one average meal each.

    Estimated cash

    S$240.00

    60 meals
    S$4.00 each

Planning aid, not fatwa

Whether a kaffārah is owed at all, and which option you must take, depends on the specific ruling of your situation — schools differ on what counts as “unable” to fast or feed. Use this tool for arithmetic; consult a trusted local scholar or imām for the ruling.

The three kaffārahs at a glance

  • Broken Ramadan Fast

    Ordered

    Intentionally breaking a Ramadan fast without a valid excuse (e.g. marital relations during daylight) — one kaffārah per broken day.

    1. 1.Fast 60 consecutive days
    2. 2.Feed 60 poor people

    Bukhari 1936, Muslim 1111

  • Broken Oath (Kaffārat al-Yamīn)

    Choice

    Knowingly breaking a deliberate oath you swore by Allah (e.g. 'wallāhi, I will not…').

    1. ·Feed 10 poor people
    2. ·Clothe 10 poor people
    3. ·Fast 3 consecutive days

    Qur'an 5:89

  • Ẓihār

    Ordered

    A man declaring his wife forbidden to him by likening her to a forbidden relative. Rare in modern practice; included for completeness.

    1. 1.Fast 2 consecutive months
    2. 2.Feed 60 poor people

    Qur'an 58:3-4

How the cash calculation works

  1. 01

    Identify the kaffārah

    Each breach has its own classical expiation. Broken Ramadan fast, broken oath, and ẓihār are the three this tool supports.

  2. 02

    Count the instances

    One kaffārah per broken fast or broken oath. Three intentionally broken days of Ramadan → three kaffārahs, paid separately.

  3. 03

    Pick an option within the ordering

    Tartīb (ordered): move to the next option only if the prior is genuinely impossible. Takhyīr (choice): pick whichever you can.

  4. 04

    Convert to cash (feeding only)

    For the feeding branches, multiply meals owed by the local cost of one average meal. Distribute directly or via a trusted charity.

Frequently Asked

What is kaffārah?+
Kaffārah (كفّارة) is a religious expiation — a prescribed act that settles certain deliberate breaches of sacred law. It is heavier than fidya because it attaches to intentional wrongdoing rather than genuine inability. The three most commonly encountered kaffārahs today are for intentionally breaking a Ramadan fast, for breaking a deliberate oath sworn by Allah, and for the pre-Islamic practice of ẓihār.
What's the difference between kaffārah and fidya?+
Fidya is for fasts that cannot be made up at all (e.g. chronic illness) — one meal per missed day. Kaffārah is the far heavier expiation for a fast that was broken deliberately, without a valid excuse — classically 60 consecutive days of fasting, or feeding 60 poor people if unable. They are separate rulings for separate situations; a person may owe one, the other, or in rare cases both.
When is kaffārah owed for breaking a Ramadan fast?+
Classically, kaffārah is owed when someone intentionally and without a valid excuse breaks a fast during the daytime of Ramadan — the paradigm case in the hadith (Bukhari 1936, Muslim 1111) is marital relations during the fast. The Shāfiʿī school restricts kaffārah to that specific act; the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, and Ḥanbalī schools extend it to any deliberate breaking such as eating or drinking on purpose. Simply forgetting and eating does not break the fast at all, and a valid excuse (illness, travel, menstruation) changes the ruling to qaḍāʾ only.
Why is it 'ordered' for broken fasts but 'choice' for oaths?+
The classical jurists read each ruling from its text. For the broken Ramadan fast, the bedouin hadith lists the options in sequence — the Prophet ﷺ only asked about feeding after the man said he could not fast. That's tartīb (in order): move to the next option only if the prior one is genuinely impossible. For the broken oath, Qur'an 5:89 lists feeding, clothing, and freeing as alternatives with 'or' between them — takhyīr (free choice): pick whichever you can afford. Fasting three days is the fallback if you cannot afford any of those.
Can I pay kaffārah in cash?+
For the 'feed N poor people' branches, most contemporary fatwa bodies — following the Ḥanafī position — allow the cash equivalent of a meal per person, which is what this calculator produces. The other three Sunni schools classically prefer actual staple food. Either way, the total must reach poor Muslims; channel it through a trusted masjid or an established charity if you cannot deliver it directly.
Do I need to fast 60 consecutive days, really?+
For the broken-Ramadan-fast kaffārah, yes — the classical ruling is two full lunar months of continuous fasting, and a single day missed without a valid reason restarts the count. Because this is extraordinarily difficult, the jurists widely accepted moving to the feeding option when fasting is not realistically possible. Women may pause and resume across menstruation without it counting as a break. Consult a scholar for the specifics of your case before committing to either path.
What counts as a 'deliberate oath' for kaffārat al-yamīn?+
An oath that invokes Allah — e.g. 'wallāhi, I will not…' or 'billāhi, I will…' — and that you intended when you said it. Casual phrases spoken without intention (lagw, Qur'an 2:225) do not incur kaffārah. Swearing by anything other than Allah is forbidden and does not create a binding oath in the technical sense, though it may be a sin in itself. If you break a valid oath, the kaffārah (5:89) applies.
How much is 'one meal' for the feeding branches?+
Classically, one mudd of the local staple per person per meal (roughly 750 g by the Shāfiʿī/Mālikī/Ḥanbalī measure; roughly 1.75 kg by the Ḥanafī measure). In modern practice, the cash equivalent of one average meal — enough to feed one poor person for a day — is widely accepted. This calculator defaults to a conservative local-meal estimate per currency; adjust it to reflect the real cost of feeding one person where you live or where the money will be distributed.
Is ẓihār still relevant today?+
Ẓihār — a pre-Islamic custom where a husband declared his wife forbidden to him by likening her to a maḥram — is rare in modern practice. The Qur'an abolished the effect of the declaration and required the husband to expiate before resuming the marriage (58:3-4). It is included here for completeness, not because it is commonly needed.

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