WHY PREGNANT AND BREASTFEEDING WOMEN ARE EXEMPTED FROM FASTING DURING THE MONTH OF RAMADAN?
One of the words of the Quran in Surah Baqarah chapter
number two verse 185
that if a person is ill and travelling he or she can make up his
prescribed periods of day of fasting later on
so most of the focus scholars they say that
these women who are pregnant and breastfeeding
they come under these category of this verse of the Quran
therefore if these pregnant and breastfeeding
Women if they want can abstain from fasting
but there are clear cuts a hadith in which the Prophet has exempted these women from fasting
It mentioned in sunan Ibn maajah hadith number 1667
that our beloved prophet said that
the obligation for a person to fast
and part of the prayer who has been lifted from a traveler
and the obligation for fasting has been lifted from a lady who's pregnant and was breastfeeding.
And our beloved prophet peace be upon him also said
it's mentioned in son and Sunan Al Nasal in the book of fasting Hadith number 2274
that Allah subhanahu wa Ta'ala has relieved the traveler from
fasting and half his prayer
and Allah subhanahu wa Ta'ala has relieved the pregnant woman and the woman who's breastfeeding from fasting
so based on these two hadith
it's clear-cut that the pregnant woman and the woman
who are breastfeeding they've been exempted
and the logical reason that one can think of is because
when a lady she is pregnant or she's breastfeeding
the food she eats is not only for herself it for herself as well as the baby she's carrying or becomes difficult for the baby
then she the exempted from fasting
but if she's in the early stage of pregnancy or she's breastfeeding
and if she feels that fasting will not cause any damage to health
and will not cause a damage to the baby then she should fast
if she has a doubt if she can do it with hardship
as long as there's no damage to her health and the baby
she has option to fast or not too fast
but if it's causing damage to her health or the baby
so it becomes harm for her too fast
because Allah Subhanahu wa taala does not want to lay a burden more than what a person can bear
and in this regard that is the reason Allah has exempted pregnant and breastfeeding women from fasting
but later on when they are healthy and they stop breastfeeding or when the pregnancy ends
And after her post pregnancy bleeding end
then they have to make up for the fast they've missed before the next month of Ramadan
