Short answer
No. A fast kept during a period or postnatal bleeding is not valid, and it is not allowed even if you want to. You make up each missed day later. You can still gain the blessings of Ramadan through dua, dhikr, charity, listening to the Quran and feeding people who are fasting, including in the last ten nights.
A woman in haid or nifas is forbidden to fast, and a fast kept in that state is invalid. She must make up the missed Ramadan days (qada) later, one for one. In the Hanafi school there is no fidya (feeding) for delaying them past the next Ramadan, though it is better to make them up before it.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Delaying the make-up past the next Ramadan without excuse adds a fidya of one mudd of food for each day.
- Maliki
- Delaying the make-up past the next Ramadan without excuse adds a fidya for each day.
- Hanbali
- Delaying the make-up past the next Ramadan without excuse adds feeding a poor person for each day.
Explanation
Aishah was asked why women make up fasts but not prayers. She said this is how they were commanded in the time of the Prophet ﷺ: to make up the fasts and not the prayers. And when he spoke of women's lighter religious load, he explained it as not praying or fasting during menstruation. So the four schools agree that a woman on her period does not fast, and that the days are made up.
During your period in Ramadan:
- Do not fast, not even part of the day. If bleeding starts during a fast, see period starting while fasting.
- Eat discreetly, out of respect for the month and for those fasting around you. There is no need to pretend to fast.
- When it ends, do ghusl and fast from the next dawn. See fasting without ghusl.
Worship you can still do, including on Laylat al-Qadr:
- Dua at iftar and in the night, especially the dua Aishah was taught for that night: Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul-afwa fa'fu anni.
- Dhikr, istighfar and salawat, as much as you like.
- Listening to the Quran and reading tafsir. See Quran on your period.
- Charity, and preparing iftar for those fasting, since whoever gives a fasting person iftar gets a reward like theirs.
Making up. Make up the missed days one for one, at any time before the next Ramadan if you can. They do not have to be consecutive. A period in Ramadan is nothing to feel guilty about: not fasting in it is obedience to Allah. See Laylatul Qadr and the qada calculator.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:185
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًۭى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَٰتٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ ۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍۢ فَعِدَّةٌۭ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُوا۟ ٱلْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿١٨٥﴾
The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.
Missed Ramadan fasts are made up on other days.
Quran, Surah Al-Qadr 97:3
لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍۢ ﴿٣﴾
The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months.
The value of the last ten nights, open to every believer through dua and dhikr.
Sahih al-Bukhari 304
Sahih... أليس إذا حاضت لم تصل ولم تصم ...
"Is it not so that when she menstruates she neither prays nor fasts?"
A woman does not fast during her period.
Sahih Muslim 335
Sahih... فنؤمر بقضاء الصوم ولا نؤمر بقضاء الصلاة ...
"We were commanded to make up the fast, and not commanded to make up the prayer."
Missed fasts are made up, missed prayers are not.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3513
Graded sahih... اللهم إنك عفو تحب العفو فاعف عني ...
"O Allah, You are Pardoning and love to pardon, so pardon me."
The dua for Laylat al-Qadr, which a woman on her period can make.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 807
Grading to be checked... من فطر صائما كان له مثل أجره ...
"Whoever gives a fasting person food to break his fast has a reward like his."
A way to share the reward of fasting.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on haid, nifas and istihadah. Lists fasting among the things forbidden in haid, to be made up later.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what makes qada necessary. Delaying qada past the next Ramadan adds no fidya in the Hanafi school.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Siyam, delaying the make-up. Requires a mudd for each day delayed past the next Ramadan without excuse.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.