Question:

salam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa Barakatu

I had an abortion one week ago; by the begining of Ramadan I will be in my second week. Now I have little drops of blood, but I am praying. Shall I fast or not? Please explain, if I only have drops every now and then, not flowing blood.

Fatwa:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

If the abortion was after the formation of the fetus which already has human beings features, then this blood would be considered as postnatal bleeding. So a woman should stop performing prayers and fasting. Generally the features of a human being take place after 120 days. If the abortion was before the formation of the fetus, then the bleeding afterwards would be considered a corrupted blood. It does not prevent a woman from fasting and performing prayers. Now you have to know when the abortion took place, then act according to what we have mentioned above, taking into consideration your menstrual period. The flow of postnatal blood is not a condition in itself. Any amount of blood is enough, when it is in the specific confinement period to prevent you from praying and fasting.

Allah knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb