He said: "Whoever dies while owing a month's fast, let a poor person be fed on his behalf for every day." Al-Tirmidhi said (6): The authentic narration from Ibn 'Umar is mawquf (stopped at the Companion). And from 'A'ishah also, she said: "A poor person is to be fed on his behalf for the make-up fasts of Ramadan, and he is not to be fasted for." (7) And it is narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that he was asked about a man who died and owed a vow (nadhr) that he must fast for a month, and he also owed the fast of Ramadan. He said: "As for Ramadan, let a poor person be fed on his behalf, and as for the vow, let it be fasted on his behalf." This was recorded by al-Athram in al-Sunan. And because fasting is an act of worship in which agency (niyabah) cannot be introduced during one's lifetime, it is likewise the case after death, just like prayer. As for their hadith, it pertains to the vow (nadhr), because it has come explicitly stated in some of its wordings, as recorded by al-Bukhari from Ibn 'Abbas, who said: A woman said: "O Messenger of Allah, my mother has died and she owed a vow of fasting, shall I perform it on her behalf?" He said: "What do you think, if your mother had a debt and you paid it off, would that suffice on her behalf?" She said: "Yes." He said: "Then fast on behalf of your mother." (8) And 'A'ishah and Ibn 'Abbas held the same opinion as we do, and they are the narrators of their hadith, which proves what we have mentioned.

Section: As for the fast of a vow, the guardian (wali) shall perform it on his behalf, and this is the opinion of Ibn 'Abbas, al-Layth, Abu 'Ubayd, and Abu Thawr. All the other jurists we have mentioned said: [A guardian] shall feed [a poor person] on his behalf, based on what we mentioned regarding the fast of Ramadan. Our argument is the authentic hadiths that we have narrated before this, and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is more worthy of being followed, and it contains sufficiency against any other opinion. The distinction between a vow and other than it is that agency (niyabah) enters into an act of worship in accordance with its lightness, and a vow is lighter in its ruling because it did not become mandatory by the essence of the Sharia, but rather the person taking the vow made it mandatory upon himself. Once this is established, fasting is not mandatory upon the guardian, because the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, likened it to a debt, and the repayment of the deceased's debt is not mandatory upon the guardian, but rather it is linked to his estate if he has an estate. If he does not have an estate, then nothing is upon