So, basically, it’s the same number of days for both sexes, it’s just being able to choose when to do them. For women who do miss a large number of days, it is hard. My sister had three children (the first just before Ramadhan, so she had post-natal bleeding for the whole month) and did miss a few days with each child whilst nursing them. She now tries to make up some days during the winter months but if Allah does not give her a long life, it’s been narrated in the hadith that it is possible for a person to fulfill the obligated fasts of their parents on their behalf after they have passed away.

While your math makes sense, it’s time men have already spent fasting and we are encouraged to fulfill as many nawafil fasts as possible. Many women do not miss the whole month of Ramadhan while nursing (and some while pregnant as well) so if later in life, when a woman has no more small children and insha allah is in better health, why should she not fulfill her obligation to Allah? I’m not saying all in one go, but reviving the Sunnah of fastings Mondays and Thursdays is really not all that difficult. The days missed from menstruation are recommended to be made up before the next Ramadhan, but it’s my understanding that the days missed from nursing and pregnancy have no time constraints.

Fasting, when done properly and with all it’s requirements, strengthens ones connection with Allah and purifies ones body. The health benefits are amazing.

This is just some food for thought. I’m currently nursing my second child, a four month old and it’s Ramadhan. I can totally relate to the relevance of this post, but I see my husband working from 7am ‘til 5:30pm, coming home covered in sweat and remarkably he’s having patience, yet he’s the one insisting that I break my fast if I think it’s too hard because I have an excuse. Undoubtedly, he’s strengthening me.

This is an interesting topic

I just want to add a few things, nothing scholarly though!

Zach – ive read you biography and you are a highly qualified engineer. my question to you is – if a lay person, uneducated in your field came to you to give you advice on egineering principles then what would you say to him? your reaction would most likely be – that how dare he/she give me advice, or i can’t believe this person – he/she does not know anything about this field so how can he give advice on something.. Again if you became ill you would not go to a lay person and ask him for medical adfvice. You wouldnt even try to figure it out yourself due to you lack of medical knowledge, even though there is alot of information on the internet.

So shouldnt the same apply to religion? Yes religion is simple, but who are you or anyone else who is not educated in religion, by educated i mean a proper qualification. Do you know arabic (grammar), do you understand tafseer of the quran (not the english version you can buy), do you understand the principle of hadith and fiqh. The answer is no, so then how can you decide what to do in certain religious matters. That does not mean we do not question the scholars on their fatwas etc, we need to ask, otherwise we are blindly following.

Regarding breastfeeding and fasting – majority of the scholars do say you should make it up, but as the religion of islam does not burden, then in certain circumstances a person can pay e.g. when they have too many fast to make up. Then again circumstances come into play, if you can’t even afford that, then i am sure a fatwa can be given to you be a QUALIFIED SCHOLAR to even alleviate you of that duty. this is my point, fatwas are from individual circumstances and sometimes cannot be applied as a general fatwa, so you need to enquire with a learned religious scholar, not just turn upto a website, whereby people who are uneducated in that field are giving you answers.

Sorry for the essay. Just remember, everyone will stand before Allah(swt) and be accounted for, so the best thing is to account yourself before its too late. Wasalam

After a child is born, most men even husbands cannot understand how taxing it is on the mother physically. Personally, I was very weak for a long time after having my child. While I was still nursing, I did fast during Ramadan, but not while expecting.

I am still responsible for those missed fasts in addition to Ramadan fasts, and honestly, am not as healthy as I used to be due to the exhaustion of motherhood, my surgery (still having complications from it) and having a child that doesn’t sleep well.

Now that I am expecting again, the issue has doubled and will be more difficult to fulfill. I don’t know why pregnancy is not considered an illness…personally I feel very ill for the entire duration and had to get IV from the hospital a few times the last time.

This state is not considered a “permanent illness” so I am still obligated and I cannot pay the charity as compensation. There are a lot of women who keep track of their Saum debt and I will do the same with intention of making it up. All I am saying is that there should be more sensitivity out there for recognizing what hardships women go through. My husband lets me decide if I feel well enough to fast or not but other friend’s husbands and society in general are more strict and express disappointment when their wife chooses to abstain, no matter what their condition.

Just being fiqh doesn’t automatically preclude it being sexist.

It’s not a bunch of nefarious bearded men sitting around twirling their moustaches while saying, “Let’s make things harder for the womenfolk! Mwah ha ha ha!”

True, but most of the fiqh did not actually consider the needs of women and was developed in a society which was very patriarchal. That definitely affected how these men thought.

you are advocating is, I’m sorry to say, chauvanistic.

I am not saying women cannot or should not fast. All I am saying is that the analogy the scholars drew between short-term illness and pregnancy or breastfeeding is faulty. Hence their conclusions are wrong as well. Women should be allowed the option of not fasting during these times. It’s not just for the women themselves but also for the infants (specifically exclusively breastfed ones). And if making up these fasts later is too difficult then other options should be considered. In fact, what I am saying is not too different from what the Islam Online fatwa in my post says.

I’m a woman who is currently exclusively breastfeeding an infant, breastfed another past 24 months, and I don’t think it’s sexist. It’s fiqh. It’s not a bunch of nefarious bearded men sitting around twirling their moustaches while saying, “Let’s make things harder for the womenfolk! Mwah ha ha ha!”

This is the problem, brother. You label the rulings of the ‘ulema wrt makeups as “sexist,” but you are advocating is, I’m sorry to say, chauvanistic. As if us l’il womenfolk can’t possibly be strong enough to “shoulder the burden” of the fast or making it up, therefore, we should be excused from it. It’s our “right” to be excused from it b/c we can’t handle the work. I can feel the headpat now.

Anyway, Ramadan Kareem. I’ll just stop now.

And it’s easy for you to require extra fasts from women. I thought one of the points in scholarly discussion was that Islam does not put undue burden on Muslims. The requirement to make up so many missed fasts sure does sound like a burden to me.