Rulings of Menstruation and Postnatal Bleeding in Islam

Source Attribution

This excerpt is taken from Fiqh Rulings and Issues in the Light of the Qur’an and Hadith,
Volume 01, Page 71.

❖ Question:​

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Rulings Related to Menstruation (Ḥayḍ) and Postnatal Bleeding (Nifās)

✿ Answer:​

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، أما بعد!

Allah the Exalted says:

﴿وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَطْهُرْنَ ۖ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ﴾
[Al-Baqarah: 222]

Translation:
“They ask you concerning menstruation. Say: It is a harmful condition, so keep away from women during menstruation and do not approach them until they are pure. When they have purified themselves, then approach them from where Allah has commanded you. Indeed, Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves.”

Nature of Menstruation​

Menstruation is a natural and physiological blood that exits from a woman’s womb during specific days. Allah Almighty made this blood nourishment for the child in the mother’s womb, because the fetus requires sustenance. If the mother were to share this nourishment, she would become weak. Due to this wisdom, Allah turned the menstrual blood into nourishment for the child, which is why a pregnant woman does not menstruate.

When the child is born, Allah transfers this nourishment in the form of milk to the mother’s breasts, through which the infant receives sustenance. For this reason, menstruation usually decreases in breastfeeding women.

When a woman completes the stages of pregnancy and breastfeeding, this blood is no longer required in the womb. Consequently, menstruation occurs approximately for six or seven days every month, though it may increase or decrease depending on a woman’s temperament or specific circumstances.

Important Shar‘i Rulings Concerning a Menstruating Woman​

◈ The Qur’an and Sunnah provide detailed rulings regarding the days of menstruation and its conclusion. A summary is as follows:

① Ruling on Prayer and Fasting​

✔ During menstruation, it is prohibited for a woman to perform prayer and fasting.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Sayyidah Fāṭimah bint Abī Ḥubaysh رضي الله عنها:

إِذَا أَقْبَلَتِ الْحَيْضَةُ فَدَعِي الصَّلَاةَ

Translation:
“When menstruation begins, leave the prayer.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 331

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 333

If a woman prays or fasts during menstruation, it will not be valid or accepted, as the Prophet ﷺ prohibited it. This prohibition indicates invalidity, and in such a case, she would be disobeying Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.

✔ After becoming pure from menstruation, a woman must make up the missed fasts, but not the prayers.

Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها said:

كُنَّا نَحِيضُ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ ثُمَّ نَطْهُرُ، فَيَأْمُرُنَا بِقَضَاءِ الصَّوْمِ وَلَا يَأْمُرُنَا بِقَضَاءِ الصَّلَاةِ

Translation:
“We used to menstruate during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then we would become pure. He would command us to make up the fasts, but he would not command us to make up the prayers.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 321

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 335

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 262–263

Reference: Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 2320

② Ruling on Ṭawāf, Recitation, and Intercourse​

❀ A menstruating woman may not perform ṭawāf of the Kaʿbah, touch the Qur’an for recitation, stay in the mosque, or engage in marital intercourse until menstruation ends and she performs ghusl.

Allah the Exalted says:

﴿فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ﴾
[Al-Baqarah: 222]

The word فَاعْتَزِلُوا refers to abstaining from sexual intercourse.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

اصْنَعُوا كُلَّ شَيْءٍ إِلَّا النِّكَاحَ

Translation:
“Do everything except sexual intercourse.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 302

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 258

③ Affection and Physical Contact​

✿ It is permissible for the husband to engage in affection, embracing, and intimacy with his menstruating wife, except for intercourse.

④ Ruling on Divorce During Menstruation​

✔ It is not permissible for a husband to divorce his wife during menstruation.

Allah the Exalted says:

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ﴾
[At-Ṭalāq: 1]

The phrase لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ means that divorce should be given during a state of purity in which no intercourse has occurred.

When ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما divorced his wife during menstruation, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered him to take her back and instructed that divorce should be given during a state of purity.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 4908

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1471

⑤ Ghusl After Menstruation Ends​

◈ When menstrual bleeding stops, the woman becomes pure and ghusl becomes obligatory. After ghusl, all acts previously prohibited due to menstruation become permissible.

⑥ Yellowish or Brown Discharge After Purity​

✔ If yellowish or brown discharge appears after attaining purity, it should not be considered anything.

Sayyidah Umm ʿAṭiyyah رضي الله عنها said:

كُنَّا لَا نَعُدُّ الصُّفْرَةَ وَالْكُدْرَةَ بَعْدَ الطُّهْرِ شَيْئًا

Translation:
“We did not consider yellowish or brown discharge after purity to be anything.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 326

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 307

⑦ Becoming Pure During Prayer Time​

❀ If a menstruating or postnatal woman becomes pure before sunset, she must perform both Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr prayers.
If she becomes pure before dawn, she must perform Maghrib and ʿIshā’ prayers.

This is because during a state of excuse, the time of the later prayer is considered inclusive of the earlier one.

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله stated that this is the view of Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, and Imām Aḥmad, and it is also reported from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Abū Hurairah, and ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهم.

Reference: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 21/434

⑧ Menstruation Beginning After Prayer Time Starts​

✔ If the time for prayer has begun and a woman enters menstruation or postnatal bleeding before performing the prayer, then according to the stronger opinion, she does not have to make up that prayer.

According to Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله, this is the view of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah and Imām Mālik, and it is stronger in light of the evidence.

Reference: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 23/335

ھٰذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب