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Questions about menstruation

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It can be difficult to ask questions about "women's issues"

Assalam-o-alaikum sisters and brothers. I would like to ask few things regarding menstruation. During periods can we

a) read quran by not touching it or touching it with clean cloth?
b) take a bath (from first day till the last) from head to toe including washing hairs because my grandmother tells not to but I feel gross all the time as I'm a bit of a clean freak. Is it really harmful?
c) can I recite any surah and durood which I have memorised?
d) can I eat and drink anything cold like yoghurt, juice, water etc because here in Pakistan the weather is extremely hot. but my mother forbids me to eat lemon, yoghurt, icecream and to drink cold water during periods?
e) can I listen to quran recitation?
f) last general question does cold water makes you fat or it is myth or should we drink normal water?

Thanks.

muslimgirl


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5 Responses »

  1. Asalaam sis. Ramadan Mubarak. Please watch this by shaykh Ahmad Jibril, should help you!
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLsfCOWCxu_6ZFKDMU-1Yii141a7SSoUt_&v=UeelwHu1vMw

  2. Assalaamualaikam

    I'll do my best to work through your questions one by one, and I apologise in advance for any mistakes I make - I hope that any mistakes will be corrected by one of our more knowledgeable brothers or sisters, inshaAllah.

    a) read quran by not touching it or touching it with clean cloth?

    As far as I'm aware, we can read the Quran during menstruation, so long as we don't touch it ourselves, as we would not be in a state of purity, and this is required. So according to many scholars, you could read it with someone else turning the pages, or read a translation from a website (I'm not sure about reading it using touchscreens - it might be useful for us to find out, as a lot of people have the Quran on their phones or tablets)...

    b) take a bath (from first day till the last) from head to toe including washing hairs because my grandmother tells not to but I feel gross all the time as I'm a bit of a clean freak. Is it really harmful?

    This is a common "old wives tale" in many cultures, but it isn't true. If anything, it's even more important for us to bathe and maintain good personal hygiene during menstruation. There are ahadith referring to the importance of maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation, including the hadith in which Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said that, when she had asked The Prophet (peace be upon him) if she could wear the Iharaam for Hajj during menses, he told her: "Undo your braids and have a Ghusl".

    c) can I recite any surah and durood which I have memorised?

    I'm not aware of any ruling that says we can't recite what we have memorised.

    d) can I eat and drink anything cold like yoghurt, juice, water etc because here in Pakistan the weather is extremely hot. but my mother forbids me to eat lemon, yoghurt, icecream and to drink cold water during periods?

    So long as what you're eating is halal (that is, no pork, no other non-halal meats, etc.), there's no reason you can't eat what you want. Medically, there's no reason you shouldn't eat or drink those things.

    e) can I listen to quran recitation?

    As far as I know, this is a great idea, regardless of where we are in our monthly cycles. I'm not aware of any reason why we can't do this.

    f) last general question does cold water makes you fat or it is myth or should we drink normal water?

    That's a myth. Realistically, the temperature of the water you drink doesn't change anything about the water - water by itself won't add any calories to your daily intake. Some people say that drinking cold water actually burns up more calories than drinking warm water, but in realistic terms any such difference would be so miniscule that it wouldn't have any noticeable effect. So long as the water is clean, drink it whatever way you like.

    Midnightmoon
    IslamicAnswers.com editor

    • MashaAllah, that's excellence response. Jazakillahu Khair.

      You wrote:

      "I'm not sure about reading it using touchscreens - it might be useful for us to find out, as a lot of people have the Quran on their phones or tablets"

      As far as I know, there is no conclusive/direct/correct prove from the Holy Quran and the Sunnah, that prevents reading/touching the Holy Quran during menstruation, in the shari'ah perspective. Those (the majority) who prevented it, looked at the matter in the Adab perspective (and that is the most correct opinion), and saw the need of honoring the Holy Quran, so they exempted two states (during learning or teaching it).

      As for reading it using touchscreens, I think it will depend on the intention made and the necessity, and plus if you are not touching an ink (if there is a screen between the hand and the ayah). In the olden days, the ayahs were written by hands and ink, so (for both men and women) being more cautious and preventing anything unclean to touch the Ayahs, made sense.

      I do not see the reason why a woman during menstruation would be eager to recite the Holy Quran, except that she honors it and recognizes its greatness, and wants to draw closer to Allah by it even more, so using the touchscreens should not be a problem, so long as she is neat, inshaAllah.

      Hazrat A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to her and found her crying. He said, "Have you got your period?" She said, "Yes". The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Allah the Almighty has prescribed this for the daughters of Adam, so do what other pilgrims do (recitation of the Holy Quran is part of the dhkr they do) except tawaf (circumambulation of the Ka`bah) until you take ghusl (purificatory bath)."

      (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

      Allah knows best.
      Ramadan Mubarak! Enjoy!!!

      • Assalaamualaikam

        JazakAllah khair, brother. That's really useful to know.

        Midnightmoon
        IslamicAnswers.com editor

  3. a) read quran by not touching it or touching it with clean cloth?

    In Maliki fiqh, one should not touch it, nor use a stick to touch it, or use a pillow or cloth as an excuse to touch it. One may read it if someone else turns the pages.

    b) take a bath (from first day till the last) from head to toe including washing hairs because my grandmother tells not to but I feel gross all the time as I'm a bit of a clean freak. Is it really harmful?

    Taking a bath is not a problem.

    c) can I recite any surah and durood which I have memorised?

    Yes, at least if you are following Maliki fiqh. If one weren't to recite, one might forget.

    d) can I eat and drink anything cold like yoghurt, juice, water etc because here in Pakistan the weather is extremely hot. but my mother forbids me to eat lemon, yoghurt, icecream and to drink cold water during periods?

    There is no prohibition on eating cold foods in hot weather, whether or not you are menstruating. This sounds like a cultural belief.

    e) can I listen to quran recitation?

    I would think so - but I am not a scholar. I think that one isn't supposed to prostrate for those ayat where normally one prostrates when one is menstruating.

    f) last general question does cold water makes you fat or it is myth or should we drink normal water?

    Water doesn't contain calories, so it doesn't matter whether it is hot, room temperature, or cold.

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