Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother Burhan,

I have a few questions regarding fasting during the month of Ramadan. So far I have heard very conflicting and sometimes confusing answers. I am hoping that you will help  clear my confusion. I would be very grateful if you could please answer each of my questions individually.

First, I have never made up for any of the missed days of fasting due to menstrual perionds. What am I required to do now that its been so many years? Do I have to make up for those days and feed a poor person for every day missed? I am not even sure of how many days I have missed so far.

Second, last Ramadan I missed fasting as I was pregnant and unwell. What is the ruling concerning that? Some people argue that I have to make up for the missed fasts and some argue that I dont have to make up for those fasts as I missed them solely because I feared for my health and my baby's health. I have already given charity for each of the days missed. Is that sufficient or do I have to make up for them? And can I make up for them after this Ramadan as I have just had the baby and it may be physically very draining to fast.  

Third, what is the ruling concerning a mother who is breastfeeding her child? I am worried that I may not be able to breastfeed my child if I fast. What should I do?  

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Missed fasts

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: ….First, I have never made up for any of the missed days of fasting due to menstrual perionds. What am I required to do now that its been so many years? Do I have to make up for those days and feed a poor person for every day missed? I am not even sure of how many days I have missed so far.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 185:

185 Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present (or witnesses) the month should spend it in fasting but if anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

If one has in their past been so negligent in the observance of their obligatory fasts that they have so many fasts that they are unable even to count them…. then the absolute first thing one must do is immediately turn back to their Lord Most Gracious in sincere ‘Taubah’ for their severe negligence and lapse of their obligatory duty, and make a solemn and sincere intention that from this day forward, they will strive to observe every obligatory fast. If the believer is sincere in seeking repentance, it is expected that they will find his Lord Merciful and Forgiving.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

As a manifestation of their sincere repentance, the believer, if he/she has the physical ability, should then strive their best to estimate the number of fasts they might have missed and try their utmost to make up those missed fasts before they meet with their appointment of death …..if one is indeed sincere in one’s repentance and in the manifestation of one’s sincere repentance whereby they strive to make up the missed fasts as best as they can, it is expected that their Lord Most Gracious will not only forgive them their negligence, but will reward them abundantly for their repentance.

Other than making sincere ‘taubah’ and repentance, and manifesting their repentance by making up the missed fasts one does not have to pay any other type of ‘kaffarah’ or atonement. Their sincere ‘taubah’ and the making up of their missed fasts would suffice as their ‘kaffarah’ or atonement.

Your Question: ….Second, last Ramadan I missed fasting as I was pregnant and unwell. What is the ruling concerning that? Some people argue that I have to make up for the missed fasts and some argue that I dont have to make up for those fasts as I missed them solely because I feared for my health and my baby's health. I have already given charity for each of the days missed. Is that sufficient or do I have to make up for them? And can I make up for them after this Ramadan as I have just had the baby and it may be physically very draining to fast.  

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 185:

185 Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present (or witnesses) the month should spend it in fasting but if anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 183-185:

183 O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that ye may (learn) self-restraint.

184 (Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill or on a journey the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (with hardship) is a ransom the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more of his own free will it is better for him and it is better for you that ye fast if ye only knew.

The ‘kaffarah’ or atonement of a missed fast is to fulfill that fast at a later date of their convenience, preferably before the advent of their next Ramadan.

The ‘kaffarah’ or atonement of feeding one who is poor and indigent for every fast missed is only for those who are terminally ill and have absolutely no hope of recovering their health, whereby they fear that their health would not permit them to make up their missed fasts even at a later date! For such people, Islam has allowed that they should feed one poor person for every fast they have missed as an atonement for their missed obligatory fasts. But if one is temporarily of ill health during the month of Ramadan, and hopes to recover from their health in the near future, it is obligatory upon them to make up the missed fasts of Ramadan by fasting the exact number of days at a later date.

In your particular case sister, if you missed the obligatory fasts of your previous Ramadan due to pregnancy and/or ill health, then you should make up the total number of missed fasts whenever Allah blesses you to recover your health, and is easy and convenient for you to make up those missed fasts; that would more than suffice as your ‘kaffarah’ or atonement for your missed fasts.

The absolute majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that if one has the physical ability to make up the missed fasts at a later date, the option of feeding an indigent for a fast missed is not applicable to them. That option of feeding an indigent for a missed fast is applicable only to those terminally ill believers who have no hope of recovering their physical health.

Your Question: ….Third, what is the ruling concerning a mother who is breastfeeding her child? I am worried that I may not be able to breastfeed my child if I fast. What should I do?  

If a mother is breast-feeding its infant child, and in any way fears for her health, or fears that she might have to leave suckling her child if she were to keep her fasts…..she has the lawful option of leaving the fasts and making up those missed fasts later at any time of the year when it is easy and convenient for her to do so.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan