Nisaa
You may break your fast if fasting would harm you or your baby, and in every school you make the days up (qada) afterward. What the schools differ on is fidya, feeding a poor person for each day, on top of the make-up. The Hanafis say never. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis say yes, but only when your fear is for the child alone. The Malikis say yes for a breastfeeding mother and no for a pregnant one. Whether fasting is really unsafe for you is a question for your doctor or midwife; this page covers what the fiqh then requires.
Why you are allowed to break the fast
Allah says: ﴿أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ ۚ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۚ وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ﴾ "Fasting for a limited number of days. Whoever among you is ill or on a journey, then an equal number of other days. And for those who are able to fast with hardship, a ransom of feeding a poor person" (Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:184).
Anas ibn Malik al-Ka'bi (Radi Allahu 'Anhu), a different man from the Prophet's servant Anas ibn Malik, narrated that the Prophet (Salla Allahu 'Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَضَعَ عَنِ الْمُسَافِرِ شَطْرَ الصَّلَاةِ، وَعَنِ الْمُسَافِرِ وَالْحَامِلِ وَالْمُرْضِعِ الصَّوْمَ "Allah has lifted half of the prayer from the traveller, and has lifted the fast from the traveller, the pregnant woman and the nursing mother" (narrated by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi 715, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah 1667; al-Tirmidhi graded it hasan). The scholars note that the hadith places her beside the traveller, and the traveller makes up the days. That is why the great majority say she makes up the fast too, and why those who add fidya must rely on other evidence.
Where the schools stand
- Hanafi: make up the days, with no fidya in any case. The Hanafi answers cite al-Hidayah and Fath al-Qadir, and reason that the verse treats her like the sick person, who owes only the make-up.
- Shafi'i: if you broke the fast out of fear for yourself, or for yourself and the child together, you owe only the make-up. If your fear was for the child alone, you owe the make-up and fidya (al-Minhaj al-Qawim; Mughni al-Muhtaj).
- Hanbali: the same split as the Shafi'is. Make up the days, and add fidya only when the fear was for the child alone (Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni).
- Maliki: the split is by situation, not by whose safety is feared. A pregnant woman makes up the days with no fidya. A breastfeeding mother makes up the days and gives fidya (Ibn Rushd, Bidayat al-Mujtahid; al-Mawsu'ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaytiyyah).
The fidya view rests on reports from the Companions. Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn 'Umar (Radi Allahu 'Anhum) are cited for telling such a woman to feed a poor person for each day (Abu Dawud; al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra). The reports about what else Ibn 'Abbas said are not uniform, and the sources that cite them do not agree on all of the detail. Several contemporary authorities, among them Ibn Baz, Ibn 'Uthaymin and the Saudi Permanent Committee, hold that she owes only the make-up. Which of these you follow depends on the school you normally follow, so ask a scholar you trust if you are unsure.
How fidya is given
Where it applies, fidya is feeding one poor person for each day missed. The report from Ibn 'Umar in al-Bayhaqi gives it as a mudd of food for each day. It is given in addition to the make-up, not instead of it.
When to make the days up
You are not required to make them up while pregnant or nursing if fasting is still hard for you. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are valid reasons to delay, and the delay is not a sin; see what is owed when make-up fasts run past the next Ramadan for how the schools treat a delay that has an excuse. Where the days you missed also include days of hayd or nifas, they are made up in the same way; see how to make up fasts missed for your period.
If you bleed while you are pregnant, that is a different question from the one on this page; see do I pray if I see bleeding during pregnancy for how the schools classify it. Postpartum bleeding is covered in can you fast during nifas.
Counting what you owe
If you were pregnant or nursing through more than one Ramadan, the days add up, and it is easy to lose track of which were for which reason. How to count your missed Ramadan fasts gives a worked example. A period tracker for Muslim women that lets you log each missed day as you go saves reconstructing the total later.
This page is a study aid compiled from cited classical sources. It is not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a scholar you trust, and ask your doctor or midwife whether fasting is safe for you.
