Legacy_Of_Scholarship, a critical essay on Menstruation rituals in Shariah. This has been written before. This repetition is meant to be a constant reminder along with further accession.

[Mostafa]

 

 

Peace be with you.

 

I would like to begin by praising and glorifying Allah Almighty. I consecutively would ask Allah glory be to Him to divinely keep sending His noble salutations upon the seal prophet and messenger, the mercy for mankind and its ultimate concessionary, Muhammad (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), his blessed household,

his graciously unfaltering disciples   and all who unfeignedly follow their rightly guided footsteps until the day of Resurrection.

 

Today I would like to spend some time educating the masses about the fundamental juristic verdicts in Islam regarding women conditions and menstruation.

 

Please note; I am quite aware about the sensitivity of the subject.

 

I understand that it is quite unusual to discuss something like this in public.

 

The prime purpose of composing this essay is essentially educational, it aims to critically enlighten the minds about the principles of Islamic Shariah

and how it leniently  treats women in one of their extremely private affairs.

 

This episode is inshallah beneficial to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

 

So let us get started by the definition of menstruation.

 

Menstruation is the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause.

 

It usually starts out ranging from ages 12 to 15, it visits the woman on a monthly basis, and it lasts for 5 days to one week on average.

 

During this period of time, there are juristic verdicts and ritual rulings regarding women conditions  in accordance with Islamic Shariah.

 

Before I dive into that, I must plainly emphasize that menstruation is not a sign of denigration as some ignorant and stupid people portray it to  laywomen.

 

That’s a mere ignorance and a quite misinterpretation.

It is not more than a physical phenomenon, and it is treated respectfully in Islam as we will illustrate.

 

So, let us commence with the juristic verdicts regarding women menstruation and worship.

 

Allah has enjoined women to temporarily suspend the following acts of worship during menstruation.

 

1; •Women ought to temporarily suspend praying during menstruation.

 

Muslims have to pray 5 times a day.

 

One of the most important stipulations to establish the genuineness of prayer in Islam is the physical purity.

 

Naturally during menstruation, women are physically impure and sequentially, they are temporarily exempted from praying.

 

Therefore, they can’t even visit the Masjid during menstruation.

 

That does not put them in a lower level of piety as some ignorant people think.

 

I even was asked by  laywomen about that.

 

I emphasize again, there is no such mythical beliefs regarding women menstruation in Islam.

 

The point that praying or entering the Massjid requires physical purity, and she is unable to provide that at the moment, consequently, she is religiously

exempted.

 

Does the woman has to indemnify for the days she suspended praying?

 

Well, you can basically imagine the dramatically difficult situation if she really had to.

 

If she had to indemnify her prayers within five days menstruation for instance, that would be calculated 25 prayers total, 5 prayers for each day.

 

Is that fair?, Is that easy?

 

That is not fair nor easy.

 

Islam did not command us to worship Allah in order to suffer.

 

But rather, we are expected to be  relieved.

 

We seek for spiritual cleansing, and that could not be attained with either mental or physical distress.

 

Consequently, the woman does not have to indemnify her prayers after menstruation.

 

2; •Women ought not to fast if their menstruation cycle started in Ramadan.

 

Just like the prayer, fasting demands the stipulation of physical purity and thus, the woman has to temporarily suspend this act of worship for the menstruation

period.

 

She has to accurately calculate the days in which she broke the fast, because she is obliged to indemnify that later on.

 

The reason of why she has to indemnify the fast not the prayer is quite logical.

 

Indemnifying the fast does not require complex of calculations in addition to both physical and mental stress unlike the prayer.

 

Thus, it does not demand further efforts unlike the prayer.

 

She can indemnify the fast either individually or collectively, depending on her circumstances.

 

3; •Women ought not to physically touch or hold the Koran during menstruation phase.

 

The Koran is considered to be the literal speech of Allah and thus, if either the man or the woman are about to approach it, they have to physically be

clean.

 

The woman is disallowed to touch the Koran or to have any physical contact with its scripture during her menstruation, as the man supsequent to his (nocturnal

emission), for instance.

 

He must first perform a ritual wash before approaching the Koranic scripture.

Getting back to menstruation, there are some minor details regarding this segment, and they are aimed for clarification.

 

I kindly ask  Muslim women to thoroughly concentrate here.

 

Question; Can she read the Koran in a digital format?

 

There are particular preconditions to that.

 

1; •The digital format has to be stored in a portable device that is not designed to specifically contain the Koran.

 

So on either her iPhone or iPad would be permissible, but if the device is intended to be Koranic by definition, it is an electronic device aimed to store

the Koran exclusively, that would be treated as the Koran there, it is encrypted, but it has a digital presence and sequentially, it is   strictly prohibited to be felt or held during menstruation phase.

 

And by analogy, any tape, desk or CD that has the Koran only stored on it are consistently associated within that category.

 

Notice, if the Koran she reads is in English or any other language, that would be juristically treated as translation or commentary, not the actual divine

revelation.

 

Sequentially, she can licitly read it even during her menstruation.

 

The one that is specifically forbidden from approaching during menstruation is the actual Koran as the Muslim masses would identify it in its eloquently

notable rhetoric in classical Arabic.

 

Can the woman in menstruation recite the Koran verbally?

 

As long as she does not touch the physical scripture of the Koran, she licitly can.

 

There are additional verdicts regarding women menstruation in their relationship with their spouses.

 

In Islam, Muslim men are juristically interdicted to engage in intercourse with their spouses during menstruation.

 

Allah explicitly prohibits that in the Koran,  He describes it as pernicious.

 

"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 Allah has ordained for you. Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves

those who purify themselves."

 

The Noble Koran, chapter 2, verse 222.

 

That does not mean the perfect abstention from any relations with his wife, he still can have intimate relations with her.

 

The total disruption is not intended.

 

It is only the actual intercourse that is forbidden during menstruation for their health care.

 

But still, the man can act romantically with his wife, and during her menstruation in particular, she desperately  demands further kindness.

 

We have authenticated narrations which  tells us about how prophet Muhammad  (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) used to treat his wives during their menstruation.

 

If any of his wives was in menstruation, he would await until she drinks some water, and then, he would take the cup from her, whilst following the spot

of her lips in which he  drinks from.

 

It signifies his gentleness and empathy to her physical conditions.

 

He is telling her metaphorically and in a quite romantic manner that I am not disappointed with your physical conditions.

 

Most women experience physical pain during their menstrual cycle in different phases of their lifetime.

 

The medical term for that is (Dysmenorrhoea).

 

The pain is usually felt as irritating muscle cramps in her lower stomach, which can sometimes spread to her back and thighs.

 

Sometimes the pain comes in intense spasms, while at other times it might  be dull but more constant.

 

Naturally, that physical pain reflects on her general mood and how she feels.

 

I enormously emphasize that  as men, we should sympathize what women suffer from on a monthly basis.

 

Islam has beautifully sympathized  her unbearable physical conditions at that time, and that’s part of the greatly divine wisdom of why Allah glory be

to Him has clemently and temporarily exempted her from some of her religious duties.

 

I constantly look at the essence of the juristic verdict in Islam.

 

I contemplate on its inward factors.

 

Islam is relevant to common sense and basic rationality.

 

It is therefore consistent that the woman doesn’t have to pray or fast during her menstrual cycle, and that’s essentially for the heavy pain she already bears either physically or mentally.

 

It is called a temporary religious exemption.

 

It is quite similar to when someone is exempted from fasting because of illness or upon travelling.

 

Islam is factual and realistic in its essence.

 

Everything in Islam is based on factuality and decisiveness.

 

I emphasize again, menstruation was never a calumnious sign of women or the way they should be treated.

 

Someone may ask:

 

Well then, so why women are not allowed to enter the praying hall during their menstruation cycle and they can’t even touch the Koranic sacred scriptures?

 

Somebody has the right to ask this question and we are obliged to summon a proper answer to this.

 

Well first of all, don’t forget that this doesn’t apply specifically to women. It’s similarly applied to men as well if they were on

Nocturnal emission or they just had intercourse with their licit spouses. The very same rule applys to them until they perform a ritual cleansing, washing their whole body with a water stream so they can be permitted to pray, they can touch the Koran and they can enter the Masjid.

 

So, it’s not particularly prejudicious  toward women.

 

It’s a generic juristic ruling which is equally applied on both genders.

 

In Islam, men and women are treated equally before the law.

 

Yes but, what about the Islamic teaching that a woman testimony  is half that of the man?

 

What about the Islamic rule that a man inherits twice as the woman?

 

The first misconception depends on deliberately sweeping a verse in the Koran.

 

The verse articulates the subsequent statement as I quote its competent English translation:

 

"And bring for testification two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men,  then a man and two women from those whom

you approve as witnesses - so that if one of the women errs, then the other shall remind her."

 

The Noble Koran, chapter 2, verse 282.

 

Well, this verse clearly indicates that the second woman is not another witness.

 

She is actually a reminder to the first one because women were not experts on financial matters at that time.

 

Another point though, there is a sound Hadith which plainly states that a woman testimony is half of that of the man. 

 

In another sound Hadith, the prophet (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) had accepted a woman’s testimony without calling another to be with her.

 

I will inshallah dive in further details regarding these concerns.

 

Well in addition to inheritance, it’s one case only when the man takes the double of what the woman inherit.

 

It’s when someone dies and leaves behind him a son and a daughter.

  

The reason for that that the man in Islam is financially responsible for supporting female family members along with handicapped individuals despite their gender.

 

Whilst in addition to the woman, she has the right to possess her wealth with her discretionary, and she licitly can spend her money on fulfilling her needs or satisfying her interests as long as it’s permissible in Islam, and that should be practiced without excess, because excess is a sinful act in Islam.

 

These are subjects which I will inshallah dive into their details in upcoming episodes of Legacy of Scholarship.

 

You can treat this essay as instructional manual.

 

Feel free to share it with whom it might be useful to, and you do not have even to get back to me to do so.

 

I hope I sufficiently covered the mainstream  peer on the subject.

 

I apologize for the sensitivity of the subject.

 

I intended to provide knowledge and enlightenment on that regard.

 

I did not intend to offend your modesty.

 

Please, you may accept my apology for any unintended inconvenience.

 

Please, you may write me back if you have any questions farther to the basic information this post examines, or if you demand any clarification to the

advanced juristic or medical expressions used in here.

 

I can explain them either one by one or in glossary arrangement.

 

I hope that was useful, and may Allah grant us the useful knowledge, Amen.

 

To all recipients of this, may Allah grant you the good knowledge and the righteous deeds.

 

May Allah keep us in His glorious rilm of gratitude and fraternity, Amen.

 

It’s time for me now to go catch up the bus.

 

Please, feel free to write me back with any questions you  have.

 

I keep checking my E-Mail on the phone on my way to work, and I will be so glad to answer any questions you have.

 

Thank you for your time and thank you for your courtesy.

 

Peace be with you.

 

Mostafa.

 

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