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Is it permissible for a menstruating woman to break her fast openly with a group of other menstruating women, and is there a specific limit to the amount of food she can eat if she breaks her fast alone?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A menstruating woman must break her fast during the day in Ramadan and is not permitted to fast. She must make up for the days she missed. The scholars have unanimously agreed that menstruating and postpartum women must break their fast in Ramadan and make up for it, and their fast is not valid if they fast, due to the statement of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her: "We used to menstruate during the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and we were commanded to make up for the fast but were not commanded to make up for the prayer," and due to his statement, peace be upon him: "Is it not that when one of you menstruates, she does not pray and does not fast? That is from the deficiency of her religion." There is no harm for a menstruating woman to eat alone or with other people who have valid excuses, but she must avoid extravagance in eating and drinking; as Allah Almighty says: "And eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess," and the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Eat, drink, and dress without extravagance or pride," and he said: "No human ever filled a vessel worse than his stomach. Sufficient for the son of Adam are a few morsels to keep his back straight. But if it is unavoidable, then a third for his food, a third for his drink, and a third for his breath."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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