Us salaam alaikum wa rehmathullahi wa barakatuhu.
Inshallah you all are doing well. I wanted to inform you of a correction in a previous post I had written, “A Creative Way to Lift a Burden.” In the post I had written how one could pay their fidiyah by purchasing FEED bags from Whole Foods. My dear group in charge (May Allah bless her and her family) from Al Huda Institute emailed me asking if it was ok to pay the fidiyah to Non-Muslims. Alhumdulilah for her asking this very important question that did not occur to me.
That same weekend of her inquiry, Sheikh Yasir Qadhi (May Allah accept his good deeds) was in Chicago to teach an Al Maghrib Class. The question was forwarded to him and he said that the fidiyah MUST be given to Muslims, unless it is absolutely impossible. Which in most cases it is very easy to feed needy Muslims through organizations such as Islamic Relief. I also went on Wikipedia to check the demographic statistics of Rwanda (the country in which the children are given food if the “FEED” bags are purchased) to see if the majority by any chance was Muslim, it was not.
Therefore I will have to repay my fidiyah. I will most likely pay it through Islamic Relief. If you purchased these bags in order to pay your fidiyah please understand that you MUST REPAY the FIDIYAH. If you go through Islamic Relief or any other organization make sure you specify the money to go towards the feeding of people. Another idea could be to send money to relatives back home and have them feed the needy Muslims in their local area.
I also had the question of how much money would one have to pay. Usually if you are feeding people you calculate how much one average meal would cost and multiply it by the number of people you need to feed (1 person for every fast missed). So for an example, you can get a good meal for $5.00 in the United States, I missed 30 days of fasts so that’s 30 people x $5.00=$150. I would send a check to the designated organization of $150 to feed the needy Muslims. Allah knows best.
I ask Allah the Most Merciful to forgive me if I have led anyone astray, indeed He is the most knowledgeable in all that we do in action and in heart. I ask Allah to accept all of our good deeds. And for those who have purchased these bags, I ask Allah to accept this act as a charitable act in and of itself.
Your Sister in Islam,
Farah Anwarullah