Question:

I am an unmarried female with some medical condition for which my doctors have ordered me to be on birth control pills. I have been taking them for the past 3 months and their timing is very strict; in other words, I have to take them at the exact time every day! I have been taking them at 4 p.m. and with Ramadan starting I do not know what to do. Please advise!

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.

Fasting in Ramadan is one of the pillars of Islam. Failing to fast during the blessed month with no valid reason is a serious sin that a Muslim must avoid. So, you are advised to discuss with your doctor possible ways to safely delay the pills time until after breaking the fast (iftar).

In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following:

It is my understanding that the timings for the pills are not inflexible, as people have a tendency to forget or skip a day altogether.

Nevertheless, speak to your doctor or pharmacist about delaying the timing of taking the pill and continuing on a post- iftar or pre- sahur schedule until the end of Ramadan [that is, after breaking the fast at sunset or before dawn].

It is important for us to remember that fasting of Ramadan is a fundamental religious obligation that we ought to observe unless we have genuine reasons to skip it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,

“Whoever breaks a single day of Ramadan fast without valid reason will not be able to make up for the same by fasting for a lifetime” (Ahmad and An-Nasa’i)

May Allah grant us steadfastness in obedience to Him and may He accept our fasts, prayers, and good works. Ameen.

Allah Almighty knows best.