Why menstruating women are exempted from fasting, praying in Islam — Cleric

A cleric and lecturer at the Department of Islamic Studies at Crescent University, Dr. Idris Oni, has explained why menstruating women are exempted from fasting and praying in Islam.

The Islamic scholar, via his verified X-account on Sunday, made this known in response to a post by an X user. 

In the post, the user, simply identified as @Wizarab10, stated that he finds it interesting that Muslim women are not permitted to fast and pray while on their menstruation.

He tweeted, “So in Islam, if you are on your period, you can’t pray and you can’t fast? I find that interesting.”

Responding to the tweet, the cleric revealed that the reason why menstruating women are exempted from fasting and praying is to relieve the burden on them. 

According to him, menstruation takes a lot from women, adding that some women fall sick during the entire period, so in order to have mercy on them, Almighty Allah exempts them from compulsory fasting and praying during their menstruation.

The cleric continued that menstruating women are not required to repay the missed obligatory prayers but are required to make up the missed fasts at their own convenience time. 

He, however, revealed that, although menstruating women are exempted from obligatory fasting and praying, they are permitted to engage in other forms of worship.

The cleric tweeted, “Why don’t you ask the scholars of Islam to explain to you why a menstruating woman is exempted from fasting and prayer? If you ask, you will learn and you will understand it better. Allah excuses the menstruating women from fasting and observing the obligatory prayers until the stoppage of the menses. This express permission to leave fasting and observing obligatory prayers is mercy to women. 

“Menstruation takes a lot from many women. Many literally become sick from the first day to the last, Allah does not want to burden them. So, He excuses them. While they are excused, they are not denied communion with Him. They can and are encouraged to supplicate and do all other acts of worship except the obligatory fast, praying. By menstruating, a Muslim woman loses nothing. 

“At the end of their menstruation, they are not required to repay the obligatory prayers they missed in menstruation. They are only required to repay the days they missed in fasting and they can do that at their own convenience, whenever they want it and however they want it (in respect of spacing the days). This is mercy and yes, it is very interesting. Allah/God cares about us and He connects with us always. He does not want any of the believing women to feel detached during their menses. I hope this helps.”