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Fatwa CenterA pregnant woman vowed to fast on Mondays her whole life
Question
One day, I vowed to observe fast on Mondays throughout my life. Now, I am pregnant. Is it permissible for me to stop fulfilling the vow in the period of pregnancy? Or is there another opinion? Please, guide me
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
People of knowledge held that making vows is disliked because it may entail hardship and the vow taker may not be able to fulfill it.
It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar 
that he said: “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prohibited vowing and said that it does not avert anything but is a means by which miserly people give money.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Concerning fasting on Mondays during pregnancy, if this entails harm for you or the embryo, then it is permissible for you to stop fasting in this period. Once your excuse is eliminated, you should return to fasting on Mondays as you vowed. If there is no harm in fasting, then you should continue to fast.
Scholars held different views as to whether or not it is obligatory to make up for the days on which you did not observe fast because of a valid excuse. The Hanbali and the Hanafi scholars adopted the opinion that it is obligatory to make up for those days while the Maaliki and the Shaafi‘i scholars held the view that it is not obligatory to make up for them.
The prominent scholar Khaleel, a Maaliki scholar 
said in Al-Mukhtasar with its commentary: “…if one failed to fast some days that he has to fast based on a time-specific vow due to an excuse like illness, menses, unconsciousness or compulsion, then the matter ends once its time expires, and he is not required to make up for the missed fast days.”
Imaam An-Nawawi gave preponderance to this opinion. The same applies if Monday happens to be the day of 'Eid, as the more correct opinion is that one is not obliged to make up for it. The days of Tashreeq are like the day of 'Eid according to the Shaafi‘i school of Fiqh. This means that one should not fast on these days. If the vow taker is a woman, and she broke her fast on some Mondays because of menses or postpartum bleeding, then the opinion adopted by the Shaafi'i school of Fiqh is that she is not required to make up for such days, as confirmed by the majority of the scholars. If she chooses to make up for missed Mondays so as to be on the safe side and to stay away from the differences of juristic opinions, then there is no doubt that this is better, knowing that, in such a case, some scholars hold it obligatory to offer an expiation for breaking an oath along with making up the missed days.
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