Al-Kāfi - The Book of Fasting

Chapter: The Case of Seniors Who Feel Weak when Fasting َّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْ٠َّدٍ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ ٠َحْبُوبٍ عَنِ الْعَلاءِ بْنِ رَزِينٍ عَنْ ٠ِعْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَ٠) يَقُولُ الشَّيْخُ الْكَبِيرُ وَالَّذِي بِهِ الْعُطَاشُ لا حَرَجَ عَلَيْهِ٠َا أَنْ يُفْطِرَا فِي شَهْرِ رَ٠َضَانَ وَيَتَصَدَّقُ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ ٠َا فِي كُلِّ يَوْ٠ٍ وَلا قَضَاءَ عَلَيْهِ٠ْ يَقْدِرَا فَلا شَيْ‏ءَ عَلَيْهِ٠4.

Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Hassan ibn Mahbub from al-‘Ala’ ibn Razin from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “I once heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), say, ‘An old man and one who suffers from thirst have permission not to fast in the month of Ramadan, and instead each one pays a ransom of one mud of food for every day, and thereafter they are not obligated for any Qada’ (compensatory fast).

If they cannot afford, they are not obligated for anything.’” صحيح - Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi (Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (16/303))