Question:

As-Salaamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

When a woman has her monthly period, she cannot pray, read Qur’an or Delail ul-Khayrat, but should she still recite her daily awrad, which has Qur’an in it, as she does the rest of the month? I feel that it is more difficult to do it during this time, I feel cut off and less sincere about it. Astaghfirullah. I was just wondering what is best for a lady to do during this time of the month?

Thank you. May Allah bless you and forgive us.

Answer:

wa `alaykum salam,

We say for the hundredth time that any lady, Allah gave her excuse not to pray, fast or touch the Holy Quran. But by heart she may recite from Quran as much as she likes. Don’t say “I don’t like to recite”. What will you do, stay ten days with no recitation and remembrance? You may recite the Quran from memory but you may not touch the Holy Quran and read from it.

You have been granted that rukhsa, why dig? When Sayyidina Musa (s) ordered his people to slaughter a cow, instead of doing it they said to him, “Describe the cow.” He told them, “OK cow neither old nor too young,” but they asked further, “What kind of cow and went into all kinds of details and descriptions, “what color?” And Allah gave them a very difficult color to find.

So we say, why go into these things? Allah gave you an excuse not to pray, fast and touch Quran. If you want to recite Quran however, you are permitted, even if without wudu. You can even do salat `ala an-Nabi (praise of the Prophet) without wudu. But if you want to be more pious you should make wudu, and that is `azheematu ‘sh-shari`ah, the highest level of observance. But there is rukhsa, you can make dhikr and laa ilaaha ill ‘Llah if you don’t have wudu.

Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani