A woman who owes expiation for accidental killing fasted for a month and then menstruated; what is required of her?
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The Shaykh : Your question?
The questioner : Expiation by fasting for two consecutive months?
The Shaykh : We need to look at how the killing occurred.
Because some people think that this killing necessitates expiation, but that is not the case. For this reason, we ask this woman; perhaps she will say that she slept near her daughter or little girl, then got up and found the child dead. Satan will tell her, "You are the one who killed her," but this is not correct. So we must ask whether she was the cause of her death or not.
And if we assume that we have reached the point where she is the cause of her death, then she owes the expiation, and her 'aqlah (responsible kin) owes the blood money. As we know, or as many of us know, the expiation is freeing a slave. If she does not find one, then fasting for two consecutive months. The consecutiveness is not broken if a woman breaks her fast due to menstruation, because this is a breaking of the fast that is unavoidable. The consecutiveness is also not broken if she breaks her fast due to travel, nor is it broken if she becomes ill and fasting becomes difficult for her. Here we say that the rule is: "If the consecutiveness of fasting is required and it is broken for a legitimate religious excuse, then the consecutiveness is not broken. When the excuse is removed, one completes the fasting and is not required to start over from the beginning." Is the answer clear?
The questioner : And what about the days of the festival, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The days of the festival do not break the consecutiveness, meaning the day of 'Id al-Fitr and the day of 'Id al-Adha, and the three days of Tashriq. These four days do not break the consecutiveness.
The questioner : Expiation by fasting for two consecutive months?
The Shaykh : We need to look at how the killing occurred.
Because some people think that this killing necessitates expiation, but that is not the case. For this reason, we ask this woman; perhaps she will say that she slept near her daughter or little girl, then got up and found the child dead. Satan will tell her, "You are the one who killed her," but this is not correct. So we must ask whether she was the cause of her death or not.
And if we assume that we have reached the point where she is the cause of her death, then she owes the expiation, and her 'aqlah (responsible kin) owes the blood money. As we know, or as many of us know, the expiation is freeing a slave. If she does not find one, then fasting for two consecutive months. The consecutiveness is not broken if a woman breaks her fast due to menstruation, because this is a breaking of the fast that is unavoidable. The consecutiveness is also not broken if she breaks her fast due to travel, nor is it broken if she becomes ill and fasting becomes difficult for her. Here we say that the rule is: "If the consecutiveness of fasting is required and it is broken for a legitimate religious excuse, then the consecutiveness is not broken. When the excuse is removed, one completes the fasting and is not required to start over from the beginning." Is the answer clear?
The questioner : And what about the days of the festival, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The days of the festival do not break the consecutiveness, meaning the day of 'Id al-Fitr and the day of 'Id al-Adha, and the three days of Tashriq. These four days do not break the consecutiveness.