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Wudu & Purification
I'm on My Period — What Happens to My Prayers and Fasts?
Your Situation
You're on your period, and you're unsure whether the prayers you're skipping need to be made up later the way missed fasts do.
What to know
Aisha (RA) was asked this exact question and gave a clear, permanent answer: prayers missed during a period are never made up, but fasts missed during a period are made up later — the two are treated differently by design, not by oversight.
What you can do
- Don't pray during your period — it isn't required, and there's nothing to make up afterward, ever.
- Do keep a mental or written count of how many fasting days you missed, and make them up before the next Ramadan begins — any days between the two Ramadans work, they don't need to be consecutive.
- Wudu and ghusl aren't needed for the prayers you're not praying, but ghusl is required once the bleeding fully stops, before you resume praying and fasting.
- If your period continues into Ramadan itself, you simply don't fast those days and make them up afterward, along with any others.
- Reading Quran, saying dhikr, and making dua all remain completely open to you during this time — nothing about your worship is paused except salah and fasting specifically.
Touching or reciting the Quran during a period is a genuine point of difference between the schools of thought — some scholars permit it without restriction, others attach conditions. If that specific question applies to you, it's worth checking your own school directly rather than assuming one answer covers everyone.
Sources: Sahih Muslim 335a–c (Aisha RA, on why menstruating women make up fasts but not prayers).
DeenGuide gives general, sourced guidance — it isn't a fatwa. For your specific personal situation, consult a qualified local scholar.
