Qaza prayers and fasting for a deceased person
A Twelver Shia guide to identifying missed worship, proxy performance, and the different rules for prayers, fasting, and feeding.
This guide concerns Twelver Shia jurisprudence and is based on the linked official sources. It is not a personal fatwa or a ruling for a particular case; ask your own marja for their current view on your duty.
In this guide
1. Establish what worship was missed
After a loved one dies, a family may address unperformed prayers or fasts. First establish their type and amount; do not choose a number or assume the deceased owed worship for every year of life. [1]
In Sistani’s rulings, doubting that a father had qaza prayers differs from knowing they existed but doubting performance. If several are known but not their exact number, the lower amount suffices in the stated case. Separate certain information, clear statements, and unknown matters; do not extend one ruling to another situation. [1]
2. Qaza prayers and proxy performance
Proxy performance is worship done intending to fulfil a duty for the deceased. Performing qaza for a living person does not replace that person’s duty, even if difficult; it is possible for a deceased person when religious conditions are met. [1][3]
Proxy performance is not necessarily paid. Sistani validates voluntary, unpaid performance of the deceased’s qaza prayers, which can discharge the eldest son’s related duty. In a paid arrangement, the worship, amount, and conditions must be clear. Payment alone does not establish performance. [1][3]
3. Is it always the eldest son’s duty?
Do not assume every parent’s missed prayers and fasts are obligatory on one child in every family. Sources consider whether an eldest son exists, his situation at death, the father’s opportunity for qaza while alive, and why worship was missed. [1][2]
Sistani states the eldest son’s duty for his father’s qaza prayers with conditions and as an obligatory precaution. His mother’s qaza prayers are not obligatory on him, though recommended. His observance also depends on his own marja. Establish that ruling and the family’s circumstances before assigning responsibility. [1][2]
4. Review qaza fasts separately
For fasting, the reason and the opportunity for qaza matter. Do not automatically add every missed day to the deceased’s qaza fasts. Under Ruling 1671, if a person missed fasts through illness or specified excuses and died before an opportunity for qaza, they need not be made up. [4]
The same source gives the eldest son’s duty for his father’s Ramadan qaza fasts with relevant conditions and as an obligatory precaution. Do not extend it to other fasts, every deceased person, or followers of all marjas without checking. If the reason or opportunity is unknown, explain that to the marja’s office. [4]
5. Qaza, kaffarah, fidyah, and fees differ
Making up worship, kaffarah, and fidyah each have their own category and conditions. A proxy fee is not automatically kaffarah or fidyah. Charity or money cannot be a substitute for prayers or fasts without the religious ruling. [4]
Nor should one say feeding can never be a substitute. In Ruling 1681, for the specified duty of the eldest son regarding his father’s Ramadan qaza fasts, Sistani mentions feeding a poor person instead of fasting. Before choosing proxy performance, feeding, or a related payment, ask the marja about the duty and conditions. [4]
6. Keep follow-up details clear
Prepare the deceased’s name, the father’s name, worship type, proposed amount, and important known details. Explain certain and unknown amounts separately. Before entrusting the matter, obtain an authoritative answer on a will, religious responsibility, and special circumstances; this guide does not replace the marja office’s case-specific response.
Current DeenServices forms enter prayer by month or year and fasting by day or month. These units do not determine the religious ruling or an exact conversion. Keep the amount, performance conditions, and gift amount clear. A request or possible payment alone does not confirm that worship was performed.
Sources
- Office of Ayatollah Sistani — Other rulings on a father’s qaza prayers, rulings 1862–1872
- Office of Ayatollah Sistani — A father’s qaza prayers, rulings 1370–1378
- Official website of the Office of Ayatollah Khamenei — Educational manual, hired prayers
- Office of Ayatollah Sistani — Laws of a qaza fast, especially rulings 1671 and 1681