What Must a Pregnant Woman Do If She Is Unable to Fast in Ramadan?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is it allowed not to fast on days when you are concerned that the overall strain of specific life circumstances and the toll of fasting would affect a baby’s growth in the initial weeks of pregnancy?

On days when there is little or no stress and a good physical feeling, that individual will fast, but they are concerned about the days when there is a lot of stress due to the combination of fasting and academic finals.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Yes. It is permissible for you to break your fast if undue physical and mental stress cause you to fear for the sake of your fetus.

Pregnant Women and Fasting

A pregnant woman who cannot fast during Ramadan is permitted to break her fast if doing so would cause her or her child undue difficulty. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

She will make up those missed days of fasting at a later date when she is able to fast without undue difficulty. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.