She got her period whilst fasting for two consecutive months – does that interrupt that continuous fasting?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

Fasting
Ramadaan is an important obligation which Allaah has enjoined upon His
believing slaves in the verse in which He says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“O you
who believe! Observing As-Sawm (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was
prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the
pious)”

[al-Baqarah 2:183]

Every adult
Muslim who is of sound mind is obliged to fast, unless he has a legitimate
shar’i excuse, such as those who are sick or travelling. They are allowed
not to fast, but they have to make it up. Women who are menstruating or
bleeding following childbirth are also obliged to break the fast and make it
up later. If a person breaks the fast in Ramadaan without an excuse, he has
committed a major sin, and he has to repent to Allaah, but does he have to
make up the day when he broke the fast?

That
depends. If he intended to fast and then broke the fast during the day with
no excuse, then he has to make it up. If he did not intend to fast at all,
then the more correct view is that he does not have to make it up.

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Breaking the fast during the
day in Ramadaan with no legitimate excuse is a major sin, and a person is a
faasiq (rebellious evildoer) if he does that. He has to repent to Allaah and
make up the day when he broke the fast. i.e., if he fasts then during the
day he breaks the fast with no legitimate excuse, then he has sinned and he
has to make up that day when he broke the fast, because when he started it,
it became binding on him so he has to make it up, like a vow. But if he
deliberately did not fast from the outset, with no excuse, then the most
correct view is that he does not have to make it up, because that will not
benefit him in any way. The basic principle is that every act of worship
that is to be done at a specific time, if it is delayed beyond that time
with no legitimate excuse, it will not be accepted, because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does an action
that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it rejected.”
And because this is a transgression of the sacred limits set by Allaah, and
transgression of the sacred limits of Allaah is wrongdoing, and the deeds of
the wrongdoer are not accepted. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“And
whoever transgresses the limits ordained by Allaah, then such are the
Zaalimoon (wrongdoers)”

[al-Baqarah 2:229]

If he had
done this act of worship ahead of time, it would not be accepted from him
either, and similarly if he does it after its time, it will not be accepted,
unless he has an excuse.

End quote
from Mamjoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (19/question no. 45).

Secondly:

If a person
breaks the fast in Ramadaan without an excuse, if he breaks it by having
intercourse, then as well as making up the fast, he has to offer expiation,
which is freeing a slave; if he cannot do that then he must fast for two
consecutive months. If he is not able to do that then he has to feed sixty
poor persons. No differentiation is made between men and women in this
regard, if the woman had intercourse willingly, but if she was forced then
she does not have to offer expiation.

If the
breaking of the fast did not involve having intercourse, rather it was by
eating or drinking etc, then the fuqaha’ differed as to whether the
expiation must be offered in that case. The most correct view is that it is
not required.

There is no
evidence to suggest that the expiation is required of one who breaks the
fast, and it is not valid to draw an analogy with intercourse.

Ibn Qudaamah
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: There is no text to suggest that the
expiation is required except in the case of intercourse, and it is not valid
to draw an analogy with intercourse.

End quote
from al-Mughni (3/22).

Thirdly:

If a woman
is required to fast for two consecutive months, and she starts fasting then
her period comes, that does not break the continuity of her fasts. She
should stop fasting, then make up the days of her period, then complete the
two months, because menstruation is something that Allaah has decreed for
the daughters of Adam, and she has no control over it. This is something on
which the scholars are agreed.

Ibn Qudaamah
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The scholars are unanimously agreed
that if a woman who is fasting two consecutive months menstruates before she
completes the fasts, she should make up those days when her period ends, and
complete the number based on the days that she has already fasted. That is
because menstruation cannot be avoided during those two months except in the
case of a woman who has reached menopause.

End quote
from al-Mughni (8/21).

Based on this, if she offers this expiation by fasting in Muharram and Safar, for example, and her period is seven days in each month, then she should stop fasting during the days of her period, and start fasting immediately afterwards, and add on fourteen days of Jumaada al-Oola to make up for the days of her period.

And Allaah knows best.