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Fasting while pregnant or nursing

صيام الحامل والمرضع

A question about fasting while pregnant or nursing, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that fasting is obligatory for both, that if they fear for themselves they break the fast and only make it up, and that if they break it out of fear for the child alone they owe the fidya as well as making it up. The Department answered that fasting is obligatory for a pregnant or nursing woman, but if she fears harm that cannot normally be borne, to herself or to herself and the child, she breaks the fast and owes only making it up. It said that if she breaks the fast out of fear for the foetus or baby alone, she owes the fidya in addition to making it up, because only the child benefited from breaking the fast. It explained that the fidya is feeding one poor person for each day not fasted.

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Summary

A question about fasting while pregnant or nursing, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that fasting is obligatory for both, that if they fear for themselves they break the fast and only make it up, and that if they break it out of fear for the child alone they owe the fidya as well as making it up. 1

The question

The questioner asked whether a pregnant or nursing woman should fast. 1

The answer

The Department answered that fasting is obligatory for a pregnant or nursing woman, but if she fears harm that cannot normally be borne, to herself or to herself and the child, she breaks the fast and owes only making it up. 1 It said that if she breaks the fast out of fear for the foetus or baby alone, she owes the fidya in addition to making it up, because only the child benefited from breaking the fast. 1 It explained that the fidya is feeding one poor person for each day not fasted. 1

About this record

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4098, dated 26 January 2026. 1 The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.

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Ramadan (the month of fasting): its name, the sighting of its crescent, its special features, and the virtues and acts of worship recommended in it

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Wearing an appetite-suppressing or nicotine patch while fasting· Are exams an excuse to break the fast in Ramadan?· Breaking the fast for people in hard physical work· Completing thirty days of fasting, then moving to a country still fasting· Cooking for someone who is not fasting in Ramadan· Endoscopy during the day in Ramadan· Enemas and suppositories while fasting· Eye drops while fasting

Sources

  1. Jordan's General Iftaa Department (aliftaa.jo) , fatwa 4098

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Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Fasting while pregnant or nursing”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/fatwa-aliftaa-jo-fasting-while-pregnant-or-nursing/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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Wearing an appetite-suppressing or nicotine patch while fasting

A question about wearing an appetite-suppressing or nicotine patch while fasting, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that there is no need for it for someone who takes the pre-dawn meal and breaks the fast as the Sunna teaches, but that it does not break the fast because it is not nourishing and does not enter the body's interior through an open passage. The Department answered that fasting is a great act of worship and one of the pillars of Islam, and that someone who takes the pre-dawn meal and breaks the fast as the Sunna teaches meets no great hardship, so there is no need for such a patch. It said that the patch nevertheless does not break the fast, because it is not nourishing and does not enter the body's interior (al-jawf) through an open passage.