Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
If a nursing mother or a pregnant woman is worried lest fasting should harm her, the majority of jurists are of the view that she is allowed not to fast.
In his answer to the question posed, Dr. Muhammad M. Abu Laylah, Professor of Islamic studies and head of the English Department, faculty of languages and translation at Al-Azhar University, states:
If there is any harm to your baby if you stop breastfeeding him during the daytime or during the fasting hours, then you are allowed to break your fast and make up for what you miss of fast days whenever your circumstances allow.
This rule is based on the fact that Islam cares about the health of the children as well as protecting them against any harm or disease.
Bear in mind that you should translate the moral lessons of fasting into practice. Try to serve the fasting people and share the religious activities of Ramadan with them.
Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a hadith reported by Salman Al-Farisi: “If any one provides a fasting person with an Iftar meal, Allah will forgive his sins, and save him from Hell-fire (in the Hereafter), and he will have a reward equal to the fasting person without reducing the reward deserved for him.” Some Companions said: “Not all of us can afford to give an Iftar to a fasting person. The Prophet, then remarked: “Indeed, Allah gives such great reward to anyone who provides Iftar to a fasting person even if it is a date, a sip of water, or a jar of milk…”
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.