If menstrual blood comes down a quarter of an hour or a third of an hour before Maghrib, before the adhan, and I am fasting a voluntary fast, is it obligatory for me to make it up?

The questioner : A female questioner says, "May your excellence...The Shaykh : If menstrual blood comes down a quarter of an hour or a third of an hour before Maghrib, before the adhan, and she is fasting a voluntary fast, is it obligatory for me to make it up?

The Shaykh : If menstrual blood comes down on a fasting woman, even if it is a moment before sunset, her fast is invalid. If it was an obligatory fast, she must make it up. If it was a voluntary fast, she has the choice: if she wishes, she makes it up, and if she wishes, she does not. However, if her fast for that day was voluntary because it was a specific day of voluntary fasting, she does not make it up. For example: a woman whose custom is to fast on Mondays and Thursdays. On the last Monday, before sunset, her menstruation started and her fast became invalid. Does she make up that day? The answer is: No. She does not make it up, because it is a recommended practice on a specific day, and the day has passed. It is a sunnah whose time has passed. Now, if a woman felt the cramping of menstrual blood at sunset, but it did not come out until five minutes after sunset, does her fast become invalid? It does not become invalid, because it does not become invalid unless the menstrual blood comes out. Yes.