The Natural Blood Of Women | Part 1 | Shaikh Sālih Al-

Fawzān
abukhadeejah.com/the-natural-blood-of-women-part-1-shaikh-salih-al-fawzan

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wahid 30 April

2018

Chapter of Menstrual Bleeding

Ibn Hajr has a chapter in Buloogh Al-Marām entitled, The Chapter of Menstrual Bleeding.
The ahādeeth in this chapter deal with the rulings of menstruation (hayd) and
prolonged or irregular bleeding (istahādah), and what a woman is required to do in such
situations. Allah has mentioned the rules concerning menstruation in the Qur’an and
they have been elaborated in the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger ( ). So this topic is
deserving of concern and discussion. Almost every woman has bleeding of one form or
another, and only a very small minority do not bleed. Allah’s Messenger ( ) stated, “It is
something decreed by Allah upon the daughters of Adam.” [1] So a woman in her
state of menstrual [or another type of] bleeding needs to know what is required of her
religiously. So Allah made that clear in His Book as did the Messenger ( ) in the Sunnah,
and the scholars from the time of Sahābah till this day. For this reason, the scholars
dedicated chapters to the topic in their books.

A note on those who trivialise and mock these kinds of matters:

With great regret, we find people who consider themselves to be enlightened and claim
they have an understanding of politics and current affairs — so they denigrate and
belittle the men of knowledge and scholarship. They refer to them as the scholars of
menstruation and postpartum bleeding! They say this due to their own ignorance and
their belittlement of the matters related to their religion. If these people utter these
words due to their mockery of the laws of Allah, then they are apostates. And at the
least, apostasy is feared for them, and we seek refuge with Allah from that. You find
many people who make fun of the scholars – they say, “You have no other job except
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menstruation, postpartum bleeding and purification after visiting the toilet” and
so on. They demean and belittle the laws related to these issues; they do not
understand the seriousness of what they say. This is sin and disobedience that requires
repentance to Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) because in this mockery of theirs there is
the invalidation of their good deeds. Allah (the Most High) stated, “That is because they
hate what Allah has revealed, so He invalidated their deeds.” [2] Whoever knowingly
hates anything of what has been revealed has apostatized and has nullified his good
deeds as this noble verse proves. So it is obligatory that we think before we speak and
that we do not speak haphazardly and without purpose. And we must not allow our
disputes with any student of knowledge lead us to mock the Laws of Allah – and we do
not disrespect his seeking of knowledge. So the affair of joking and mockery of the
religion is an affair connected to one’s belief, so one must pay attention to it.

Regulations of menstrual bleeding in the Qur’an and Sunnah:

Allah made mention of the regulations of the bleeding of women in the Qur’an. He
stated:

َ ‫ﻰ ﻳ َﻄ ْﻬُْﺮ‬
‫ن ﻓَﺈ ِذ َا‬ ٰ ‫ﺣﺘ‬َ ‫ﺾ وََﻻ ﺗ َْﻘَﺮﺑ ُﻮﻫُﻦ‬ ِ ‫ﺤﻴ‬ َ ْ ‫ﺴﺎَء ﻓِﻲ اﻟ‬
ِ ‫ﻤ‬ َ
َ ‫ﻞ ﻫُﻮَ أذ ًى ﻓَﺎﻋ ْﺘ َﺰِﻟ ُﻮا اﻟﻨ‬
ْ ُ‫ﺾ ﻗ‬ ِ ‫ﺤﻴ‬ َ ْ ‫ﻦ اﻟ‬
ِ ‫ﻤ‬ َ َ ‫ﺴﺄ َﻟ ُﻮﻧ‬
ِ َ‫ﻚ ﻋ‬ ْ َ ‫وَﻳ‬
َ ْ
2:222 – ‫ﻦ‬ َ ‫ﻤﺘ َﻄ َﻬﺮِﻳ‬ُ ْ ‫ﺤ ﺐ اﻟ‬
ِ ُ ‫ﻦ وَﻳ‬
َ ‫ﺤﺐ اﻟﺘﻮاﺑ ِﻴ‬
ِ ُ‫ﻪ ﻳ‬
َ ‫ﻪ إ ِن اﻟﻠ‬ ُ ُ ‫ﻣَﺮﻛ‬
ُ ‫ﻢ اﻟﻠ‬ َ ‫ﺚأ‬ ُ ْ ‫ﺣﻴ‬
َ ‫ﻦ‬ْ ‫ﻣ‬ َ ‫ﺗ َﻄ َﻬْﺮ‬
ِ ‫ن ﻓَﺄﺗ ُﻮﻫُﻦ‬

“They ask you concerning menstruation. Say: that is a harmful thing [for a
husband to have a sexual intercourse with his wife while she is on her menses],
therefore keep away from women during menses and go not unto them till they
have purified themselves. And when they have purified themselves, then go in
unto them as Allah has ordained for you. Truly, Allah loves those who turn to Him
in repentance and loves those who purify themselves.” [Al-Baqarah: 222] So His
saying, “They ask you,” is an address to Allah’s Messenger ( ); they would ask him
concerning menstruation and its rulings and what it necessitates. So he was
commanded, “Say: that is a harmful thing” because it is unclean and impure.

So Allah commanded the husbands to refrain from sexual intercourse with their wives
during their menstrual period (and postpartum bleeding): “Therefore keep away from
women during menses.” The intent here that the man must not have sexual relations
with the woman in her private parts while she is menstruating.

Then Allah stated, “Therefore keep away from women during menses and go not
unto them till they are purified.” This is an emphasis from Allah (the Most High) that
sexual relations with a menstruating woman are not permitted until they are pure from
menses and have taken a ritual bath (ghusl).

However, taking pleasure from one’s wife that does not involve intercourse is permitted
such as touching, kissing, enjoying her, fondling and so on. Allah’s Messenger ( ) used to
participate in these affairs with his wives. He asked his wife, Ā’ishah (radiyallahu ‘anhā)
who was on her monthly period, to put on her skirt (izār), then he would take pleasure in

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her. So all of this is permitted, so long it does not involve sexual intercourse. When this
verse was revealed, Allah’s Messenger ( ) said, “Do everything [with your wives]
except sexual intercourse.” We will discuss this hadeeth in detail later part.

So this verse proves that menstrual blood is impure, and the hadeeth proves that the
woman herself and her body is pure because she can be touched, kissed and caressed.
Her perspiration and her saliva are pure. So her status due to her menstruation is that
she is ritually impure and not physically impure. This is further supported by the fact
that on an occasion when the Prophet( ) was in the Mosque, he said to Ā’ishah
(radiyallahu ‘anhā), “Pass me my scarf.” She responded, “But I am in my menstrual
cycle.” So he said, “You menstruation is not in your hand.” Meaning that the body of
the menstruating woman, her hands, her feet, etc. are pure. He impurity is limited and
restricted to the menstrual blood itself and where it comes out from.

The Jews would completely disassociate from their menstruating womenfolk (and they
still do) – they would not go near them at all, and would not even eat or drink with them
(and they would not accept a menstruating woman handing something to the man). So
Allah commanded this Ummah to differ from the Jews, and they are allowed to touch
and interact with menstruating women; the man is permitted to eat what she cooks and
other such things.

So for the menstruating woman, there are two states:

1. It is not allowed to have sexual intercourse with her while she is on her menstrual
period.

2. Once her period has come to an end, then sexual intercourse is permitted with the
condition that she takes a ritual bath (ghusl) due to the statement of Allah, the Most
High:

َ ُ ‫ﻓَﺈذ َا ﺗﻄ َﻬﺮن ﻓَﺄ ْﺗﻮﻫُﻦ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴ‬

َ ‫ﻤﺘ َﻄ َﻬﺮِﻳ‬
2:222 – ‫ﻦ‬ ُ ْ ‫ﺤ ﺐ اﻟ‬
ِ ُ ‫ﻦ وَﻳ‬
َ ‫ﺤﺐ اﻟﺘﻮاﺑ ِﻴ‬
ِ ُ‫ﻪ ﻳ‬
َ ‫إ ِن اﻟﻠ‬ ‫ﻪ‬ ُ ُ ‫ﻣَﺮﻛ‬
ُ ‫ﻢ اﻟﻠ‬ َ ‫ﺚأ‬ ْ َ ْ ِ ُ َ ْ َ ِ

“And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah has
ordained for you. Truly, Allah loves those who turn to Him in repentance and loves
those who purify themselves.” That is the view of the majority of the scholars to the
point that some have cited ijmā’ (consensus) in the issue – i.e. that when the menstrual
bleeding of a woman comes to an end, it is not permitted to have sexual intercourse with
her until she takes a bath (ghusl). [3] Imam Abu Haneefah held it permissible to have
intercourse with one’s wife once the menstrual bleeding has stopped even if she has not
taken a bath so long as she has completed the full days of bleeding according to their
view which is ten days. [4] However, this understanding is clearly erroneous because it
opposes what is apparent in the verse. Allah stated, “And when they have purified
themselves.”

Definition of Hayd (menstrual) bleeding and Istihādah (prolonged

and irregular) bleeding:
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Linguistically, Hayd means something that flows. In religious terminology, Hayd (menses)
refers to the natural blood and plasma that exits from the cavity of the womb of the
woman during specific days. As for Istihādah then it is bleeding due to an illness that
exits outside of the normal menstrual cycle of the woman from the lower part of her
womb. It is bleeding, or a haemorrhage and has underlying causes.

End of Part 1.

Taken from Shaikh Sālih al-Fawzān’s explanation of Buloogh al-Marām min Adillatil-
Ahkām of Al-Hāfidh Ahmad Ibn ‘Alee Ibn Hajr al-Asqalānee (Born 773H, Died 852H).
Shaikh Al-Fawzān’s tremendous explanation is entitled Tas-heel al-Ilmām bi-fiqhil-
Ahādeeth min Bulooghil-Marām and is printed in seven volumes. The above is a
translation of this important and very enlightening chapter (from volume 1), adapted
slightly in places, and more detail added to ease understanding.

Footnotes:

[1] Bukhāri (294) Muslim (1211) [2] Qur’an: Muhammad: 9 [3] Kashshāf Al-Qinā’ ‘an
Matnil-Iqnā’ 1/472, Al-Muhadhdhab 1/38, Al-Kāfi Fil-Fiqhil-Māliki 1/31. [4] Al-Bahr Ar-Rā’iq
1/54,213.

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