Fourteen menstruation-related rulings
20-1-2014 | IslamWeb
Question:
I heard that there are fifteen religious rulings related to menstruation. What are these rulings?
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.
Menstruation is the blood that flows from the bottom of the woman’s womb without a disease or injury and it has some related religious rulings, including the following:
1- It is prohibited for a menstruating woman to perform obligatory or supererogatory prayers and she does not make up for the missed prayer when she becomes pure, according to scholars’ unanimous agreement.
2- It is prohibited for a menstruating woman to observe obligatory or supererogatory fast, but she must make up for the missed fasts of Ramadan when she becomes pure, according to scholars’ unanimous agreement.
3- It is prohibited for a menstruating woman to perform any obligatory or supererogatory Tawaaf and she should perform all acts of Hajj and ‘Umrah except Tawaaf and its two Rak‘ahs, according to scholars’ unanimous agreement.
4- It is prohibited for a menstruating woman to read the Quran, as stated by Imaam Ash-Shaafi‘i and according to one of the two opinions reported from Maalik, Ahmad and Abu Haneefah.
However, they unanimously agree that a menstruating woman and the woman who has postpartum bleeding are allowed to make any supplication or Thikr other than the Quran.
5- It is prohibited for a menstruating woman to carry or touch the Mus-haf.
6- It is prohibited for a menstruating woman to stay in the mosque, but she is allowed to pass through it without staying, unless she fears that she may stain the floor of the mosque with the menstrual bleeding or so.
7- Having sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman in the vagina is prohibited according to scholars’ unanimous agreement.
8- Menstruation prohibits ‘Itikaaf and invalidates it.
9- Menstruation prohibits divorce, but it does not invalidate it if it takes place according to the preponderant opinion of scholars.
10- Menstruation is a sign that a girl has reached puberty.
11- It is used to determine the ‘Iddah and whether the woman is pregnant or not (this point has more details).
12- It entails obligatory Ghusl.
13- It invalidates the worship-related Ghusl, except the Ghusls of Hajj.
14- It prohibits the recitation and thanking Sujoods and invalidates them, according to the opinion of the scholars who consider that they are similar to prayer.
Scholars agree unanimously regarding most of these rulings, but they disagreed regarding some of them. For more information, review the books of Fiqh.