Fasting: Too Weak to Fast at Puberty — Is Qadā’ Enough or Is Kaffārah Also Required?

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Fasting: Too Weak to Fast at Puberty — Is Qadā’ Enough or Is Kaffārah Also Required?

English:

Question #814:

A person, at the outset of the age of shar‘ī puberty, is not able to fast due to physical weakness and inability. Is it enough for him to perform the qaḍā’ of the fast, or is he required to offer the kaffārah as well?

Answer #814:

If fasting does not cause unbearable hardship for him yet he breaks the fast intentionally, then he has to perform qaḍā’ and pay kaffārah as well. However, if he fears that he gets ill due to fasting, he is only to perform qaḍā’ of the fast.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Fasting