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Darulifta Ahlesunnat
(Dawateislami)
Question
What do the scholars of Islam say regarding the following matter: In our rural
areas, it is widely held that a woman cannot bathe during her menses. What does
Islamic law say regarding this?
بِسْمِ اللہِ
الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ
الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
The claim that ‘a woman cannot bathe during her menses’, is a
misunderstanding amongst laypeople. In reality, there is no harm in bathing to
remove bad odour and dirt or to cool down. This is the case even though bathing
to attain ritual purity will not be possible until she reaches the correct time
for the cessation of her bleeding. There is no harm in her bathing prior to
that (cessation of bleeding) for the purpose of keeping clean. That which has
been mentioned in the question as being widespread amongst people, has no basis
in Islamic law.
On the contrary, Islamic law encourages a woman to bathe on some
specific occasions, even if she is in the state of menses or post-partum
bleeding. It is Mustahabb (recommended) to bathe prior to entering the
state of iḥrām. If a woman in
menses or post-partum bleeding is entering the iḥrām
state for ḥajj or ʿumrah, this bathing will be recommended for her too. In fact, the jurists are
agreed upon its permissibility.
During the farewell ḥajj, the wife of Hazrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq, Sayyidatuna Asmāˈ b. ꜤUmays, gave birth to Sayyiduna Muhammad b. Abi
Bakr. This occurred at Dhū al-Ḥulayfah.
As the mīqāt of the people of
Madīnah is Dhū
al-Ḥulayfah, the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم ordered her through Abū
Bakr Ṣiddīq, to bathe and enter the iḥrām
state. If it were forbidden for women in a state of post-partum bleeding or
menses to bathe in these days, why would the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم have ordered it?
It should be remembered that this answer is from an Islamic legal
perspective. If bathing is harmful for a particular woman due to a medical
reason, she may act according to her doctor’s advice.
It is permissible to bathe in the state of post-partum bleeding, just as
it is narrated by Imam Muslim on the authority of Hadrat
ꜤĀisha Ṣiddīqa رضی
اللہ عنھا:
نفست اسماء بنت عميس بمحمد بن ابی بكر بالشجرة
فامر رسول اللہ صلى اللہ عليه و سلم ابا بكر يامرها ان تغتسل وتهلّ
Sayyidatuna Asmāˈ b. ꜤUmays رضی اللہ عنھا gave birth to Muhammad b. Abī Bakr at
Shajarah (a place in Dhū al-Ḥulayfah). The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم commanded Abu Bakr رضی اللہ عنہ to convey to her, that she
should take a bath and then enter the state of iḥrām.”[1]
Imam al-Nawawī al-ShāfiꜤi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه comments on this hadith:
وفيه صحة احرام النفساء والحائض واستحباب
اغتسالهما للاحرام وهو مجمع على الامر به لكن مذهبنا ومذهب مالك وابی حنيفة
والجمهور انه مستحب وقال الحسن واهل الظاهر:هو واجب.[2]
Imams Abū Dāwūd
and Tirmidhi both narrate from the Companion ꜤAbdullāh b. ꜤAbbās رضی اللہ عنہ, that the Messenger of
Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم declared:
واللفظ للترمذی”ان النفساء والحائض تغتسل وتحرم وتقضی
المناسك كلها غير انها لا تطوف بالبيت
Indeed, the woman in post-partum bleeding and menses should bathe, enter
iḥrām and complete
all ḥajj rites, except that she should not perform circumambulation of the
sacred House.[3]
Regarding bathing for the iḥrām,
it is mentioned in Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāiq, Ḥāshiyat al-Sharunbulālī and Minḥat al-Khāliq:
واللفظ
للاول”والمراد
بهذا الغسل تحصيل النظافة وإزالة الرائحة لا الطهارة حتى تؤمر به الحائض والنفساء۔۔۔
ولا يتصور حصول الطهارة لها
Below this, in Ḥāshiyat al-Shilbī:[4]
(قوله والمراد بهذا الغسل الخ) قال الاتقانی:
وهذا الغسل اعنی غسل الاحرام ليس بواجب ولكنه من باب التنظيف كما فی
الجمعة بدلالة اغتسال الحائض والنفساء ملتقطاً
In Imdād al-Fattāḥ:[5]
وسنن الحج: منھا الاغتسال ولو لحائض ونفساء او
الوضوء اذا اراد الاحرام
In Baḥr al-Rā’iq:[6]
(قوله
واذا اردت ان تحرم فتوضا والغسل افضل) قد تقدم دليله في الغسل وهو للنظافة لا للطهارة
فيستحب في حق الحائض أو النفساء والصبي
The Hanafi jurist, Mufti Amjad ꜤAlī al-AꜤẓamī
رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه said:
When that place (i.e. mīqāt) draws
near, use the miswak, perform Wudu and bathe well. If you are unable to bathe,
perform Wudu. Even the woman experiencing post-partum bleeding and menses, and
the child, should bathe and enter the iḥrām
in a state of purity.[7]
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَرَسُوْلُہ
اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ
وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم
Answered By: Mufti Abu Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari
Ref No: NOR-12342
Date: 12 Muḥarram 1444 AH/ 11 August 2022
[1] Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ
Muslim, vol. 1, p. 385, published in Karachi
[2] Al-Minhāj Sharḥ al-Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, vol. 1, p. 385,published in Karachi
[3] Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhi, vol. 3, p. 281, published by Dār Ihyāˈ al-Turāth
[4] Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāiq wa Ḥāshiyat al-Sharunbulālī, vol. 2, p. 8, published in Multan
[5] Imdād al-Fattāḥ Sharḥ
Nūr al-Īḍāh, p. 688,
published in Quetta
[6] Baḥr al-Rā’iq, vol. 2, p. 344, publisher al-Maktab al-Islami
[7] Bahār-i-Sharīʿat, vol. 1, part 6, p. 1071, Maktabat al-Madina, Karachi