Can I Skip Fasting in Early Pregnancy for Baby’s Health?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is it permissible to abstain from fasting during stressful times in early pregnancy out of concern for the baby’s health?

While fasting on less stressful days is observed, worries arise during stressful times such as 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 causes 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 can 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.