A menstruating woman sleeping in the same bed she uses before her menses
Fatwa No: 190275

Question

Assalam Alaikum Can a woman during her pregnancy menses sit or sleep on the same bed which she uses before or she has to use different bed till she becomes pure.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

It is permissible for the menstruating woman and the postpartum mother to sit and sleep in the same bed she used when she was ritually pure, and this is not forbidden for her. Likewise, it is permitted for her to mix with the members of her household and to eat with them from the same dish. Nothing she does while she is ritually pure is forbidden for her during her period except sexual intercourse, prayer, fasting and things for which Tahaarah is requisite, like touching the Mus-haf [the Arabic text of the Quran].

Being strict when mixing with a menstruating woman and regarding her as impure is the conduct of the Jews and it is among their transgression. It is written in their book (Old Testament, Leviticus 15:19-24): "When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening. If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean. When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.”

On the other hand, the Christians took the other extreme by seeing no harm in having sexual intercourse with the menstruating woman. Al-Qurtubi   said: "The Jews and Magians would avoid the menstruating woman and the Christians would have sexual intercourse with her, so Allaah commanded taking the moderate course between these two extremes.”

It was related from Anas Ibn Maalik that the Jews would drive the menstruating woman away from the house and they would not eat with her, drink with her, nor stay with her in the house. The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was asked about this and Allaah The Exalted revealed (what means): {And they ask you about menstruation. Say: "It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation. And do not approach them until they are pure. And when they have purified themselves, then come to them from where Allaah has ordained for you. Indeed, Allaah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves."} [Quran 2:222], and the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Stay with them in your homes and do everything you normally do with them, except sexual intercourse.” The Jews responded to this, saying: “This man wants to leave nothing we do without doing the opposite of it.” [Muslim, Ahmad, Ibn Maajah, Abu Daawood; and this is the wording of Abu Daawood]

Further, it is related that ‘Aa’ishah said: “While menstruating, I would take a drink and then pass it to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and he would put his mouth on the place where my mouth was and take a drink. Also while menstruating, I would eat meat from a bone and then pass it to the Prophet , sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and he would put his mouth on the place where my mouth was.” [Muslim]

So, all perfect praise be to Allaah, the One Who legislated for us this upright religion and guided us to the straight path, far from the extemism of the Jews and the indulgence of the Christians.

In his Majmoo' Al-Fataawa, Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “The religion of Islam follows a moderate course in the middle between the Jews and the Christians, as it is in the middle way of all legislations; so the issue of prohibition and impurity was not overly constrained upon us like it was upon the Jews, who were forbidden even good things because of their injustice and transgression. Moreover, the burdens and shackles imposed upon them have been removed from us, like cutting off the stained garment and refraining from mixing with the menstruating woman as regards sharing food with her, sleeping with her in the same bed, etc. The evil things have not been made lawful for us, unlike those which were made lawful by the Christians who do not prohibit what is prohibited by Allaah and His Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, nor follow the religion of the truth: they neither avoid filth nor prohibit an evil; and the most anyone of them could say is: Clean your heart and then pray.”

Please refer to Fatwa 93768 about how the body of the menstruating woman and the postpartum mother is pure.

Allaah Knows best.

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