Question:
This question is on behalf of my spouse. As we are aware that one woman during her menstruating period cannot do Tawaaf of Ka'bah. We are intending to go Hajj this year. Our route plan as decided by the tour manager is via Medina. On reaching the Meeqaat if she happens to come across her periods then she believes she has to take Ghusl and put on her Ihraam intending for Hajj Tamattu' and 'Umrah. But she cannot go round the Ka'bah and cannot perform any prayers also. My First Question is: 1) Does it mean she has to stay back at her place of accommodation in Mecca till she is purified. 2) Secondly, once she is purified can she takes the Ghusl at her place of accommodation and put on her Ihraam or she has to go back to Meeqaat and take Ghusl and put on her Ihram. 3) If there is no time left for 'Umrah and the 8th Day of Thul-Hijjah falls then what is binding on her, whether she has to take the Ghusl, put on her Ihraam, intends for Hajj and proceed to Mina and perform all the other Hajj rituals then again she cannot perform any prayers whether shortened or any other prayers. 4) My fourth question is whether the believing men or women can change clothes like their Ihraam during the said period from 8th Thul-Hijjah to 13th Thul-Hijjah. I mean replace the Ihraam with another Ihraam only. 5) What is the best Ihraam for women?
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.
If a woman wears her Ihraam to perform 'Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and then has menstruation, she has to remain with the same status without doing any nullifiers of Ihraam but she is not permitted to pray or to circumambulate around the Ka'bah as long as she is in menstruation. She has to wait in Makkah or anywhere else until she becomes pure and then she can circumambulate around the Ka'bah, make Sa'i, and cut her hair, and by doing so her 'Umrah (minor pilgrimage) is completed. However, if her menses continue until the eighth of Thul-Hijjah when the Hajj starts, she has to include the intention of Hajj with the intention of 'Umrah. Hence, her Hajj become the Qiraan type of Hajj (intending to do Hajj and 'Umrah together in which one only performs the actions of Hajj and 'Umrah is combined to it by intention only) and performs both Hajj and 'Umrah and has to slaughter (a sheep). She therefore performs all the rituals of Hajj but does not circumambulate around the Ka'bah until she becomes pure. The evidence is the narration of the Prophet as he said to 'Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her: "Perform all the rituals of a pilgrim but do not circumambulate around the Ka'bah." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Meaning that she would wear her Ihraam from the Meeqaat, say the Talbiyah (which is to utter the kind of Hajj one intends to make, by saying: "Labbayka Allahumma Hajj" (O Allah, in response to your call, I perform Hajj [mention the type of Hajj one intends to make] [Qiraan, Tamattu' or Ifraad]), spends the night at Mina, stands at the Mount of Arafaat, throws the pebbles (Jimaar) and make Sa'i between As-Safa and Al-Marwah, and other rituals of Hajj but should delay the circumambulation around the Ka'bah until she becomes pure.
As regards your question of changing the Ihraam during Hajj, if you mean changing the Ihraam with another Ihraam, then this permissible at all times on the condition that there is no perfume on it, but if you mean intending Hajj instead of 'Umrah (i.e Hajj Al-Qiraan) then this has already been discussed. To conclude, changing the intention from one ritual to another has many forms among which is what has already been discussed.
Allah knows best.