The Menstruating Woman & the Night of Al-Qadr (Decree)
{Verily, We have sent it (this Qur’ân) down in the night of Al-Qadr (Decree). (1) And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is? (2) The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months (i.e. worshipping Allâh in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months, i.e. 83 years and 4 months).}
- Categories: Fiqh of Fasting -
My Muslim sister
It is from the bliss of Allah Almighty to His slaves that He has singled out our Muslim nation in preference to other nations. He has prescribed fasting the holy month of Ramadan and has made for us a night; better than a thousand nights, distinguished from all the nights of the year with great virtues. He has said in His entirely clear Book, {Verily, We have sent it (this Qur’ân) down in the night of Al-Qadr (Decree). (1) And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is? (2) The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months (i.e. worshipping Allâh in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months, i.e. 83 years and 4 months).} [Surat Al-Qadr 97:1-3].
{إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ ﴿٢﴾ لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ} القدر: 1-3
Transliteration: Inna anzalnahu fee laylati alqadri (1) Wama adraka malaylatu alqadri (2) Laylatu alqadri khayrun min alfi shahrin
The Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, has said, “whoever establishes the prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards (not to show off) then all his past sins will be forgiven.” [Agreed upon]
«من قام ليلة القدر إيمانا واحتسابا، غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه» متفق عليه
The opinions of the scholars diversified concerning the exact time of this blessed night. Their opinions reached up to forty sayings, as mentioned in “Fat’h Al-Bari (a book explaining the Hadith mentioned in Sahih Al-Bukhari).” The closest to be right opinion is that it is in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.
Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, reported that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, has said, “Search for the Night of Al-Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.” [Reported by Al- Bukhari 2017 and the wordings are his, and Muslim 1169]
«تحروا ليلة القدر في الوتر، من العشر الأواخر من رمضان» رواه البخاري ومُسلم
To her who has menstruated on the last ten days of Ramadan and got grieved and felt sorrow: do not be sad or miserable, O sister. This is something Allah has prescribed on the daughters of Adam.
Following is a fatwa titled: what should a menstruating woman do in the night of Al-Qadr? From the website: Islam Q&A (http://www.islam-qa.com/) supervised by Sheikh Mohamed Al-Munjjid. We put this fatwa in your hands; it shows what you should do in these blessed nights. We ask Allah Almighty that you benefit from it.
Question: what can a menstruating woman do in the night of Al-Qadr? Can she increase her reward by being pre-occupied in performing acts of worship? If the answer is yes; then what are the things she can do in this night?
Answer: all the praises and thanks be to Allah.
The menstruating woman can perform all acts of worship except for praying, fasting, circumambulating the Ka’ba, and observing I’tikaf in the mosque. It was reported from the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, that he used to spend the nights of the last ten days of Ramadan in worshipping. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, reported that the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, “With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet used to tighten his waist belt (meaning either he works hard, or give up women) and used to spend all the night in worshipping, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers.” [Reported by Al- Bukhari 2024, and Muslim 1174],
«كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا دخل العشر شد مئزره، وأحيا ليله، وأيقظ أهله» رواه البخاري ومسلم
worshipping is not confined to praying, it includes performing all the acts of obedience. That is how the scholars interpreted this Hadith.
Al-Hafiz said, “and used to spend all the night in worshipping” means he kept awake performing acts of obedience. An-Nawawi said, “It means he kept awake praying and performing other acts of worship.” He said in Awn Al-Ma’bûd (Helping the Worshipper), “it means praying, remembering and mentioning Allah and reading the Quran.”
Performing the night optional prayers is the best of the acts of worship that the slave of Allah can do in the night of Al-Qadr. That is why the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, has said, “whoever establishes the prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards (not to show off) then all his past sins will be forgiven.” [Reported by Al- Bukhari 1901, and Muslim 760]
«من قام ليلة القدر إيمانا واحتسابا، غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه» رواه البخاري ومسلم
Hence the menstruating woman is not permitted to perform prayers; she can spend the night performing other acts of worship other than prayers such as:
First: reading the Quran
The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, have differed in opinion concerning this matter.
The majority of the jurisprudents agree that a menstruating woman is forbidden to read the Quran until she gets purified. The only exceptions are to what take the ruling of remembrances and supplications, that which is not meant as reciting the Quran; something like saying {In the Name of Allâh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful}, {“Truly! To Allâh we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.”} and {“Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good,} etc. words that have been mentioned in the Quran but are among the common remembrances people are used to saying.
The scholars deduced forbiddance through:
What was narrated in the Hadith of ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, that the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, has said, “Neither the menstruating woman nor the woman on ceremonial impurity should read anything from the Quran.” [Reported by At-Tirmidhi (131), ibn Majah (595), Ad-Darqatni (117/1), and Al-Bahaqi (89/1]. It is a weak Hadith because it is reported through Ismail ibn ‘Ayyash through Al-Hijaziyyin; and his narration through them is weak. Sheikh of Islam ibn Taymiyyah (460/21) said, “The scholars of the Hadith agreed that this Hadith is weak.” Look at Nasb Ar-Raya (Setting up the Banner) 195/1 and At-Talkhis Al-Habir (the Verified Summary) 183/1].
Some scholars have the opinion that the menstruating woman is permitted to read from the Quran; this is the doctrine of Imam Mâlik. It is also a narration through Ahmad which is chosen by sheikh of Islam, ibn Taymiyyah; it is considered more probable by Ash-Shawkani. They deduced this opinion through several matters amongst which are:
1 – The origin of matters is the permissibility until there is evidence that matters are forbidden; there is no evidence of the forbiddance of a woman in menses to read from the Quran. Sheikh of Islam ibn Taymiyyah said, “There is no manifest authentic text that forbids a menstruating woman from reading from the Quran.”
He added, “it is well known that woman were menstruating during the time of the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, and he did not forbid them from reading the Quran nor from saying remembrances or supplications.”
2 – Allah Almighty has ordered to recite the Quran. He praised its reciter and promised him great rewards in abundance. No one is forbidden from that except for those whom clear evidence is established against them; other than that there is nothing that prevents a menstruating women from reading the Quran as previously shown.
3 – Using juristic reasoning by analogy to forbid the menstruating woman from reading the Quran just like the woman in ceremonial impurity is forbidden has its discrepancy; the ceremonially impure can remove the forbiddance by performing total ablution while the menstruating woman cannot. Menstruation lasts for a long period of time, while the ceremonially impure is obliged to perform total ablution when prayer time is due.
4 – Forbidding the menstruating woman from reading the Quran makes her miss the reward. She may forget some of the Quran she memorizes or that she needs reading for teaching or learning it.
The previously mentioned shows the powerful evidence of those who adopt the opinion of the permissibility of a menstruating woman to read the Quran. If the woman takes the precaution and confines reading to only when she fears to forget what she memorizes, it is better. It is worthy to mention that the verdict concerning this matter is pertained to reading the memorized Quran by heart; as for reading from the Book of the Quran, it has another verdict. The probable opinion of the scholars is that it is forbidden to touch the Holy Book for the ritually impure because of the general meaning of the words of Allah Almighty, {Which (that Book with Allâh) none can touch but the purified (i.e. the angels).} [Surat Al-Wâqi’ah 56:79]
{لَّا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ} الواقعة: 79
Transliteration: La yamassuhu illa almutahharoona
Ash-Shafi’i said, “It is established to these Imams that this was the book of the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him.” Ibn Abdel-Barr said, “This is a famous book to the bibliography writers, it is also well known to the scholars that it does not need a chain of transmission to be reported through. It is like the recurrent Hadith; as people received it with acceptance and knowledge.” Sheikh Al-Albani said about it, “It is authentic.” [At-Talkhis Al-Habir (the Verified Summary) 17/4, and look at Nasb Ar-Raya (Setting up the Banner) 196/1 and Irwâ’ Al-Ghalîl (Satiating the Thirsty) 158/1]
[The Marginal Annotations of Ibn ‘Abdîn 159/1, Al-Majmû’ (the Collection) 356/1, Kashâf Al-Qinâ’ (Uncovering the Mask) 147/1, Al-Mughni (the Satiating) 461/3, Nayl Al-Awtâr (Gaining the Goals) 226/1, Majmû’ Al-Fatâwâ (the Collection of Fatwas) 460/21, Ash-Sharh Al-Mumti’ (the Pleasant Explanation) by Ibn ‘Uthaymîn 291/1]
Therefore, if a menstruating woman wanted to read from the Book of Allah, she should hold it with a separate piece of cloth, or that she can wear gloves. She can turn its pages using a stick or a pen or the like. The cover of the Book is considered part of it and has the same verdict of not touching it. Allah Almighty knows best.
Second: remembrances
They include glorifying Allah, praising Him, and saying there is no god but Allah and the like. She increase saying, “subhân Allah (Glorified is Allah), al-hamdu li-allah (all praises and thanks be to Allah), lâ ilâha illa allâh (there is no god but Allah), allâhu-akbar (Allah is Great), subhâna allâhu al-’azîm (Glorified with praises is Allah the Most Great), etc.”
Third: asking for forgiveness
You increase saying, “astighfiru-allâh (I ask Allah for forgiveness).”
Fourth: supplications
She increases supplicating Allah, Glorified and Exalted, and asking Him from the good of this worldly life and the good of the Hereafter. Supplication is from the best of the acts of worship. The Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, has said, “Supplication is worship.” [Reported by At-Tirmidhi, and authenticated by Al-Albani in Sahih At-Tirmidhi]
«الدعاء هو العبادة» رواه الترمذي وصححه الألباني
The menstruating woman can perform all these acts of worship and others in the Night of Al-Qadr. We ask Allah Almighty to bless us with guidance to what He likes and what pleases Him and to accept from us the righteous deeds.
May Allah bless us all by reaching the Night of Al-Qadr and by making us among those He frees from the Hellfire. The last of our invocation is all the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists).
With little modification