Can She Make Up the Fast of ‘Ashura’ if She Missed it Due to Menstruation?

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Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was asked:

If she is menstruating when ʿĀshūrāʾ comes, can she make up the fast?
Is there a guiding principle for which optional deeds can be made up, and which ones cannot?

The Shaykh رَحِمَهُ اللهُ replied:

“Optional deeds are of two types: a type which has a cause, and a type which does not have a cause.

The one which has a cause – it elapses along with the elapsing of the cause and is not made up. For example: the prayer for “greeting the masjid” (taḥiyyat al-masjid). If a man comes and sits down, and his sitting continues for a long time, and then he wants to pray taḥiyyat al-masjid, there is no taḥiyyat al-masjid because it is a prayer which has a cause, it is tied to a cause, so when it elapses so does its legality.

Similar to that is what is apparent with the Day of ʿArafah and the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ. If a person delays fasting the Day of ʿArafah and the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ without an excuse, there is no doubt he does not make it up, and it will not benefit him if he did make it up, meaning: it will not benefit him in that being [a substitute for] the Day of ʿArafah and the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ.

As for the case where it passes by a person while he is excused, such as the menstruating woman, the one experiencing post-natal bleeding, and the ill, then what is apparent is that it is not made up because this is specific to a specific day, the ruling of which elapses with the elapsing of that day.”

Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (20: 43, no. 399).

A Word on the Virtue of Fasting the Day of ‘Ashura’ by Sh. Muhammad b. Salih al-‘Uthaymin

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In the Name of Allāh, the Most Merciful, the Giver of Special Mercy

All praise is due to Allāh the Most High and Most Great, the One Who is alone in creating and controlling, the One Who honoured His friends with His help, and humiliated His enemies through His forsaking [of them], so how excellent a Protector is our Lord, and how excellent a Helper is He.

I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allāh alone without any partners, to Him belong the Kingdom and praise, and He is, over all thing, completely capable. And I bear witness that Muḥammad is His slave and His Messenger; the bringer of glad tidings, the warner, and shining lantern, may the praise and protection of Allāh be upon him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Recompense.

To proceed:

Indeed, in this month, the month of Muḥarram, was the salvation of Mūsá, may praise and protection be upon him, and his people from the enemy of Allāh – Pharaoh and his army. By Allāh it was a major blessing obligating gratitude towards Allāh the Almighty and Majestic. This is why, when the Prophet ﷺ arrived in al-Madīnah, and he found the Jews fasting the tenth day of this month, the Prophet ﷺ said, “I have more right to Mūsá than you”, thus he fasted it and commanded its fasting. He was asked about the virtue of fasting it and he said, “I hope in Allāh that it may expiate for (the sins of) the year that came before it.” After that he commanded contradicting the Jews by fasting the tenth and a day before it which is the ninth, or a day after it which is the eleventh.

Consequently, it is best to fast the tenth day and add to it a day before it, or a day after it. Adding the ninth day to it is better than the eleventh.

Thus, it is necessary for you, my Muslim brother, to fast the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, likewise the ninth day, in order to actualise contradicting the Jews which the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ commanded.

May Allāh facilitate success for me and you to be grateful for His blessings, and worship Him with excellence, and may He protect us from the evils of our souls through His care – indeed He is the Most Generous and Most Bountiful.

I have no objections to spreading it (i.e., this letter).

Written by Muḥammad al-Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn 21/12/1409.

Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (20: 39-40).

The Best Day to Fast with the Day of ‘Ashura’

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Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said:

“The scholars say, regarding the fasting of the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, that it is either [fasted] on its own, or he fasts with it the 9^th, or he fasts with it the 11^th. There is a fourth mode: which is to fast the 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th – so it is three days of the month.

It is better for the one who wants to fast two days, that he fasts the 9^th and the 10^th.”

See: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (20: 35, no. 395).