Ramadan is the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, and often gather to break their fast communally. Ramadan this year aligns with Women’s History Month. But, as in every year, the women who are exempt from fasting due health reasons, such as pregnancy or menstruation, are also building community and preparing for make-up fast days later.
In Aseel's family home near the University City area, a familiar sound played through a speaker.
The call to prayer, known as the "Adhan," summons Muslims, like 19-year-old Aseel, five times a day to pray.
“Where I’m not able to participate in the fast, and in the prayers specifically, due to my menstrual cycle — during those times I will admit, you don’t feel the Ramadan spirit as much, because you are eating, and nobody else is eating,” Aseel said. “Or everybody is praying, and you're unable to participate in the prayer. So, sometimes it can be a little bit difficult.”
WFAE is using only Aseel's first name so she can discuss a sensitive, personal topic freely.
Religious teachings exempt Muslim women from fasting during Ramadan while menstruating to ease hardship. They are also exempt from prayers due to teachings on ritual purity. Despite being exempt, women who miss part of the fast typically make up those days later.
“It is the same procedure as fasting in Ramadan. The only difference is that you don’t have that community support,” Aseel said. "Which can be a little difficult, at times — because when you have a community, that makes going through struggle easier — because you have people besides you, uplifting you.”
Hadia Mubarak is an associate professor of religion at Queens University of Charlotte. She says there are other people who are exempt.
“If you are a child and haven’t reached the age of puberty; if you are very elderly; if you’re chronically ill and it requires you to take certain medication during the day; if you are a pregnant woman, nursing woman, or if you are menstruating — all these are exemptions to fasting.”
Mubarak says women with fasts to make up often turn to the winter months.
“A lot a lot of women will actually try to make up their fast, you know, around November, December, January — when the days are shorter — just because it's going to be a much shorter fast,” Mubarak said.
Charlotte native Danah, who WFAE is also identifying by first name only, stood in her kitchen on a recent morning, chopping onions as she prepared lentil soup for her family. Danah, a mother of two, is about five months pregnant with her third child. As she’s not fasting, she cooks for others. Acts of service, such as feeding someone who is fasting or homeless, are considered ways to receive blessings in Ramadan.
For Danah and other Muslim women, it’s also a way to participate and engage in the holy month.
After her first child was born, Danah attempted to fast and breastfeed during Ramadan despite being exempt. Part of the reason was to reduce the number of days she would need to make up.
“With my daughter, I tried to do a day on and off, and I just noticed that my [milk] supply was really decreasing," Danah said. "And I didn’t want it to permanently disrupt that, so I decided to continue not fasting. I know some people who do a day on and off consistently and are able to maintain a healthy supply of milk for their kids while also participating in some of the fast.”
Since pregnancies typically last nine months, there’s a good chance a Muslim woman who has given birth, has either been pregnant or nursing during Ramadan. With that comes the possibility of piling up a stack of missed fast days.
Fasting alone outside the holy month can be isolating, so they often form communities of support.
“People will start to fast their 'make-up fast' together to kind of build that community," Danah said. "So, for example, I've done that before — where me and my friends, we have this amount of days to fast, so, ‘[I would say] 'Hey, do you guys want to fast on this day together?’ We'll plan it out. So that's something that's very common, and very just very nice to do just to build that bond also of, like, sisterhood.”
That support from other women is what Danah says turns what could be a daunting experience of fasting alone outside Ramadan, into a spiritually nourishing moment with other women.
