Question:
1. Can a woman take pills during the last ten days of Ramadan (after Iftar) to delay her monthly period or should she just accept Allah's decree on her as a woman. Keep in mind that she really wants to seek Laylatul Al-Qadr.
2. There is a Hadeeth that says that if one prays at night (Qiyam) sincerely for Allah during Ramadan, his past and future sins are forgiven. If a woman misses Taraweeh (Qiyam) prayers for as long as she has her period, does this mean she hasn't made Qiyam for the whole month and thus, she is not included in the Hadeeth?
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, may Allah exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
Delaying the monthly period is permissible but not doing so is recommended for many reasons, such as:
1. Allah has decreed for all women to have menses. Actually a Muslim woman worships Allah by abstaining from performing prayers, fasting, circumambulating around Ka'bah while she is in her menses just as she worships Allah by performing prayers, fasting, etc., when she is not in her menstruation period. Therefore, if a woman gives up performing prayers, fasting during her menses she is actually worshiping Allah by submitting herself to the Orders of Allah. Thus she will be rewarded for that. Also interfering to delay the menses is interfering with what is natural so it is desirable to leave it.
2. Sometimes pills used to delay the menses do not prevent all discharge and a woman may be confused whether she is having menses or not. In this cases, she does not know whether or not she is clean, so she can perform prayers or to fast. Also, these pills may cause irregularities in the period for a longtime.
Even though delaying the menses is permissible, we advise our sister not to do so to comply with the Orders of Allah in doing something or abstaining from something. Know that if one can not perform fasting for a legal reason then Allah will reward him as the Prophet said: "When a slave of Allah falls ill or goes on a journey, he is credited with an equal amount of recompense as he used to do in his state of health or when he was at home". [Al-Bukhari]
Allah Knows best.