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:

Salaam, during the last ramadan,after breaking my fast and saying the magrib prayers i period started. i didnt get the opportunity of saying the isha prayer. in line with this i want to find out whether my fast for that Day was valid or i should repeat it totally  and also if my fast was valid what should i do in place of the ISHA PRAYERS? do i just repeat it or what? jazaka khair!

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Answer:

Periods fasting prayer

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.

Respected sister in Islam, unlike the constitution of a day in the Gregorian calendar which starts and ends at mid-night……a day in the Islamic Calendar starts and ends at the time of ‘magrib’ or the setting of the sun.

If your menstruation period started before the time of ‘magrib’ or before the sun had set, then your fast of that day would be invalid and you would be required to make up that fast. But if your period started after the sun had set, and you had already broken your fast and were in the process of offering of your ‘magrib’ prayers….your fast of that day would be considered valid, and you would not be required to make up the fast of that day.

Mu'adhah said, "I asked Hadrat Aishah (r.a.), 'Why must we make up the fasts missed due to our menstruation, and not the prayers?' She replied, 'That was what the Messenger of Allah (saws) told us to do. We were ordered to make up the fasts, and we were ordered not to make up the prayers."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

If you missed the performance of your ‘Isha’ prayers because of your menstruation, you are not to make up those prayers….for Allah Subhanah has excused the believing women from making up the prayers they miss due to their menstruations.

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