Question: Can a menstruating woman enter the mosque? Please clarify in light of the Quran and Hadith.
Answer: There are considerable differences of opinion regarding a menstruating woman entering the mosque, but the more cautious course is that a menstruating woman and a person in a state of major impurity (junub) may pass through the mosque out of necessity. They should not stay there. From the following verse of the Holy Quran, the argument can be drawn:
لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ
“Do not approach the prayer (and the place of prayer) while you are intoxicated until (your intoxication wears off and) you know what you are saying, nor (should) one in a state of major impurity (approach the mosque) except to cross the way or pass through.”
Note: The place where prayer is actually performed is a mosque, but if prayer is not performed on the roof, it does not have the ruling of a mosque. The essential matter is which place has been designated as a mosque. If congregational prayer is not held on the roof, there is no harm in a menstruating woman or one in major impurity going there. Furthermore, the Prophet ﷺ said:
ان المسجد لا يحل لجنب و لا خائض
“It is not permissible for a menstruating woman or one in major impurity to enter the mosque.”
The Ruling on Acts of Worship During Menstruation and Post-Natal Bleeding
Question: I read in a book that for a woman during menstruation and post-natal bleeding, praying, having intercourse with her, entering the mosque, fasting and touching the Quran, etc., are all forbidden. Please clarify in the light of the Quran and Hadith, especially regarding entering the mosque and touching the Quran.
Answer: During menstruation and post-natal bleeding, prayer, fasting, intercourse and entering the mosque are prohibited; touching the Quran is a matter of difference of opinion. The evidences for this are as follows:
Hazrat Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) says:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out to the musalla on Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr. He passed by the women and said: “O assembly of women, give charity, for I have been shown that most of the people of Hell are you.” They said: “Why, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “You curse much and you are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone deficient in intellect and religion who overpowers the intellect of a wise man more than you.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, what is the deficiency in our religion and intellect?” He ﷺ said:
أليس شهادة المرأة مثل نصف شهادة الرجل ؟ قلن بلى
“Is not the testimony of a woman half that of a man?” They said: “Yes.”
He ﷺ said: “This is the deficiency of her intellect.” Similarly, he ﷺ said:
أليس إذا حاضت لم تصل و لم تصم ؟ قلن بلى، قال فذلك من نقصان دينها
“When a woman is in her days of menstruation, is it not (the case) that she neither prays nor fasts?” (She will make up the fast in a state of purity; she will not make up the prayer.) They said: “Yes.” He ﷺ said: “This is the deficiency of her religion.”
The same ruling applies to the state of post-natal bleeding.
Hazrat Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says:
كانت النفساء على عهد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تقعد بعد نفاسها اربعين يوما، او اربعين ليلة
“Women in post-natal bleeding during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would sit for forty days or forty nights after their post-natal bleeding.”
In another narration, Mussah al-Azdiyyah says: I performed Hajj and came to Hazrat Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her). I said: “O Mother of the Believers, Samurah ibn Jundub instructs women to make up the prayers missed during menstruation.” She said: “They should not make them up. A woman among the wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would sit in post-natal bleeding for forty nights, yet the Prophet ﷺ did not order her to make up the prayers of the post-natal period.”
Imam al-Hakim (may Allah have mercy on him) says that this hadith is sahih al-isnad, and Imam al-Dhahabi agreed with him.
Imam al-Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
و قد اجمع اهل العلم من أصحاب النبى والتابعين و من بعدهم على ان النفساء تدع الصلاة أربعين يؤما إلا أن ترى الطهر قبل ذلك فإنها تغتسل و تصلى
Shaykh Ahmad Shakir says that this is the correct position and is in accordance with the hadith.
“There is consensus among the people of knowledge from among the Companions of the Prophet, the Tabi’un and those after them that post-natal women will leave prayer for forty days. However, if she sees purity before that, she should perform ghusl and pray.”
Intercourse and sexual relations during menstruation are also prohibited, as the Almighty says:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّى يَطْهُرْنَ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّـهُ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
“And they ask you about menstruation. Say: it is an impurity. Keep away from women during menstruation and do not approach them until they are pure. When they have purified themselves, go to them from where Allah has commanded you. Indeed, Allah loves those who turn back in repentance and loves those who keep themselves pure.”
Hazrat Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when a woman among the Jews became menstruating, they would expel her from the house, and within the house they would neither eat nor drink with her nor have intercourse with her.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about this, and Allah revealed this verse: وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ up to the end of the verse. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Keep them in the houses and do everything except intercourse.” The Jews said: “This man wants to oppose us in every matter.” Usayd ibn Hudayr and Abbad ibn Bishr (may Allah be pleased with both of them) came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: “O Messenger of Allah, indeed the Jews say such and such. Should we not have intercourse with women during menstruation?” The face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed until we understood that he was displeased with the two of them. They left, and then a gift of milk was sent to them from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we understood that he was not displeased with them.
From this Quranic verse and the sahih hadith, it is known that intercourse with a woman during menstruation is forbidden. However, eating and drinking from her hand, combing and other similar matters are permissible and lawful.
If one has intercourse during menstruation, he must give one dinar or half a dinar in charity, as this ruling is established by a sahih hadith.
During menstruation, a woman may not go inside the mosque for worship, but she may pass through the mosque and may take something out of the mosque if needed. This concession is granted, just as in Surah al-Nisa, verse (33), a junub in a state of major impurity is not permitted to pray in the mosque, but is granted the concession of passing through the mosque. The impurity of menstruation and post-natal bleeding appears greater than that of janabah. Therefore, in the case of menstruation and post-natal bleeding also, one should not stay inside the mosque. It is narrated from Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
قال لي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : ” ناوليني الخمرة من المسجد، فقلت : إني حائض، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : إن حيضتك ليست فى يدك
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: ‘Pass me the mat from the mosque.’ I said: ‘I am menstruating.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Indeed, your menstruation is not in your hand.'”
Imam al-Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the hadith of Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is hasan sahih:
وهو قول عامة أهل العلم لا نعلم بينهم إختلافا فى ذلك بأن لا بأس أن تتناول الحائض شيئا من المسجد
“This is the view of the generality of the people of knowledge. Regarding this matter, we do not know of any difference among them that there is no harm in a menstruating woman handing something from the mosque.”
As for a menstruating woman touching the Holy Quran, there is no sahih hadith prohibiting it. Scholars differ on this. However, the better and preferable course is that a Muslim woman touch the Quran in a state of purity, or use a clean cloth to turn the pages of the Quran, and avoid direct contact.
Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes regarding this case: “It is permissible without any difference of opinion.”
