Salah Ruling When Menstruation Begins Before Time Ends
بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
What is the Ruling on the Salāh During Whose Time Menstruation Began?
Darulifta Ahlesunnat (Dawateislami)
Question
What do the noble scholars and jurists of Islamic law say about the following: A woman did not offer Salāh yet, and while there was still time left for Salāh, she started her menstruation. In this case, what is the ruling for the Salāh? Will the Salāh become qada’ or excused?
Answer
If there is still time for salāh and a woman had not yet offered her Salāh when her menstruation began, she is excused from that salāh by sharīʿah. Meaning she will not offer the qadāʾ of that Salāh. For example, if the time of Zuhr started two hours ago, but the woman did not offer Salāh, and before the time of Zuhr elapsed, she started menstruating, the Salāh is excused.
Details about this ruling: The principle is that if the time of salāh had begun but the salāh had not yet been offered, then the rulings will be determined by the end of the salāh timing regarding the obligation of salāh, the obligation being excused, and whether to offer the salāh in full or qasr; the rulings are applied according to this. There are many fiqhi examples of this. For example, if a sharʿī traveler becomes a resident at the end of the salāh time, or a resident becomes a sharʿī traveler and they had not yet offered salāh, the ruling of the fard salāh will change for them. Similarly, if a woman becomes pure from her menstruation at the end of the salāh time, salāh becomes obligatory upon her according to the details of this ruling. Therefore, if a woman had not yet offered salāh and she starts menstruating at the end of the salāh time, that salāh will not be obligatory upon her because salāh is excused for menstruating women.
What time is considered for the performance of Salāh? Mentioning the principle regarding this, ʿAllamah Ibn ʿĀbidīn al-Shāmī al-Dimishqi رحمة اللہ تعالى عليه (d. 1252 AH/ 1836 CE) writes:
و الحاصل ان السبب ھو الجزء الذی یتصل بہ الاداء او الجزء الاخیر ان لم یود قبلہ
(Radd al-Muhtār Maʿa al-Durr al-Mukhtār, Vol. 02, p. 738, Publ. Quetta)
The final time is considered for changing the fard. For example, if a resident becomes a traveler near the end of the salāh time, they must offer qasr. Thus, it is stated in Tanwīr al-Absār Wa al-Durr al-Mukhtār:
(و المعتبر فی تغییر الفرض آخر الوقت فان کان) المکلف (فی آخرہ مسافرا وجب رکعتان و الا فاربع) ملخصاً
(Al-Durr al-Mukhtār Maʿa Radd al-Muhtār, Vol. 02, p. 738, Publ. Quetta)
Explicitly mentioning the ruling regarding the Salāh being excused if a woman had not yet offered her salāh and she began menstruating at the end of the salāh time, ʿAllamah Ibn ʿĀbidīn al-Shāmī Dimishqī رحمة اللہ تعالى عليه (d. 1252 AH/ 1836 CE) writes:
أما الفرض ففي الصوم تقضیہ دون الصلاة و إن مضی من الوقت ما یمکنھا أداوٴھا فیھا؛ لأن العبرة عندنا لآخر الوقت
(Radd al-Muhtār, Book of Purification, Vol. 01, p. 485, Publ. Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyah)
It is similarly stated in al-Fatāwā al-Hindiyah, Manhal al-Wāridīn, and various other books of fiqh (the following is cited from Manhal al-Wāridīn):
(و المعتبر) فی حرمۃ الصلاۃ و عدم وجوبھا (فی کل وقت آخرہ مقدار التحریمۃ … فان حاضت فیہ سقط عنھا الصلاۃ)
(Manhal al-Wāridīn, Chapter Six about the Ruling of Bloods, p. 110, Publ. Quetta)
Sadr al-Sharī’aĥ Muftī Muḥammad Amjad ʿAlī Aʿzamī رحمة اللہ تعالى عليه (d. 1367 AH/ 1947 CE) writes:
نماز کا آخر وقت ہو گیا اور ابھی تک نماز نہیں پڑھی کہ حیض آیا ،یا بچہ پیدا ہوا، تو اس وقت کی نماز معاف ہو گئی، اگرچہ اتنا تنگ وقت ہو گیا ہو کہ اس نماز کی گنجائش نہ ہو۔
Translation: If the end of the salah timing has approached and she has not yet offered their salah, and at that time she started menstruating, or she gave birth to a child, then the salah of that time is excused; even if the time was so limited that it wasn’t sufficient for offering salah. (Bahār-e-Sharī’at, Vol. 01, pt. 02, p. 380, Publ. Maktaba-Tul-Madinah, Karachi)
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَ سَلَّم
(Allah Almighty knows best and His Messenger صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَیْہِ وَ اٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم knows best.)
Answered By: Mufti Muhammad Qasim Attari
Ref No: FSD-9572
Date: 26th Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 1447 AH / 20th October 2025