For those who are unable to fast due to difficulty (elderly, terminally ill, pregnant, breastfeeding etc.), a compensation must be given by feeding a poor person for every day of fasting not observed.
Elderly, sick and other individuals who live in poverty and canโt afford to pay the fidya are not required to do so. Young and healthy individuals who miss fasts due to travel or sickness should make up the fast once their travels are over or they recover from sickness – and no fidya is required for those cases.
There are different ways of fulfilling ones fidya by feeding the poor – as Allah (SWT) has left the commandment to be general when he said “And as for those who can fast with difficulty, they have to feed a poor person” [Al-Qur’an 2:184].