Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … In the Noble Qur’an it is stated: {وَ یَسْئَلُوْنَکَ عَنِ الْمَحِیْضُِّ قُلْ ہُوَ اَذًی فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَآئَ فِی الْمَحِیْضِ وَ لَا تَقْرَبُوْہُنَّ حَتّٰی یَطْہُرْنَ} (Al-Baqarah: 222) “And they ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a kind of impurity, so keep away from women during menstruation and do not approach them until they are purified.” Keeping this verse in view, some people object to the hadiths mentioned under this chapter, saying that the Qur’an commands to keep away from women during menstruation, whereas the hadiths of the chapter establish social interaction and intimacy (lying together, bodily contact) with menstruating women, which, according to them, contradicts the Noble Qur’an. Therefore, they claim that such hadiths, which are against the Qur’an, cannot be considered authentic. However, the hadiths under this chapter actually clarify the meaning of the verse: that meeting and lying with a menstruating woman is not prohibited; rather, “do not approach them” means not to have intercourse (jima‘) with them. Further clarification is found in the hadith narrated from Anas radi Allahu anhu, that among the Jews, when a woman menstruated, they would neither eat nor drink with her, nor stay together with her in the house. The noble Companions asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam about this, so Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: {وَ یَسْئَلُوْنَکَ عَنِ الْمَحِیْضُِّ قُلْ ہُوَ اَذًی فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَآئَ فِی الْمَحِیْضِ} (the translation of which has been mentioned at the beginning). Then the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Do everything except intercourse.” (Muslim: 302) Thus, it is clear that there is no contradiction between the aforementioned verse and the hadiths of the chapter; rather, this is a mental fabrication of those who seek to find faults within the hadiths, and nothing more. (Abdullah Rafiq)