May a menstruating woman recite the Noble Qurʾān?

Answer

All praise is for Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed: I have spoken on this subject more than once before, and made clear that there is no harm or blame in a woman reciting from memory whatever she can of the Qurʾān while she is menstruating or in nifās [postnatal bleeding], because the proofs of the Sharīʿah indicate this. The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, have differed on this.

Some of the people of knowledge said that she does not recite, just like one who is junub [in a state of major ritual impurity]. They cited as proof a weak ḥadīth narrated by Abū Dāwūd from Ibn ʿUmar, raḍiya Allāhu taʿālā ʿanhumā, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: The menstruating woman and the junub do not recite anything of the Qurʾān. This ḥadīth is weak according to the people of knowledge, because it is narrated by Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh from the people of the Ḥijāz, and his narrations from them are weak.

Some of the people of knowledge drew an analogy between her and the junub, saying: just as the junub does not recite, neither does she, because she carries a major ḥadath [state of ritual impurity] that requires ghusl, so she is like the junub.

The answer to this is that the analogy is incorrect, because the situation of a woman in menstruation or nifās is not that of the junub. Menstruation and nifās last a long time; that might be hard on them, and they might forget much of what they have memorised of the Noble Qurʾān. The junub’s state, by contrast, is brief: as soon as he is finished with his need, he bathes and recites. So the menstruating woman and the woman in nifās may not be judged by analogy with him. The correct of the two views of the scholars is that there is no blame on a woman in menstruation or nifās in reciting what she has memorised of the Qurʾān, no blame in her reciting Āyat al-Kursī when she goes to sleep, and no blame in her reciting from memory whatever she can of the Qurʾān at any time. This is the correct view, and this is the basic principle. That is why, when ʿĀʾishah began menstruating during the Farewell Ḥajj, the Prophet ﷺ instructed her, saying: Do what the pilgrim does, except that you do not circle the House until you become pure. He did not forbid her to recite the Qurʾān.

It is known that the muḥrim [one in the state of iḥrām] recites the Qurʾān. This shows that there is no blame on her in reciting it. He ﷺ prevented her only from ṭawāf [circling the Kaʿbah], because ṭawāf is like the prayer and she does not pray; about recitation he said nothing. This shows that she is not barred from reciting. Had recitation been barred, he would have made it clear to ʿĀʾishah and to other women, during the Farewell Ḥajj and at other times. It is also known that hardly a household is ever without a woman who is menstruating or in nifās. Had such a woman been unable to recite the Qurʾān, he ﷺ would have explained it to people in a general, clear statement, so that no one would be unaware of it.

As for the junub, he does not recite the Qurʾān, by explicit text, and his state is brief: as soon as he finishes, he purifies himself and recites. The Prophet ﷺ used to remember Allah at all times, except that when he was junub he refrained from the Qurʾān until he had bathed, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām. As ʿAlī, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu, said: Nothing kept him, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām, from the Qurʾān except janābah [major ritual impurity].

It is also established from him, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām, that he recited after coming out of the place where he had relieved himself. He recited and said: This is for one who is not junub; as for the junub, no, not even an āyah. This shows that the junub does not recite until he has bathed¹.