How a menstruating woman assumes Ihraam

14/10/2010| IslamWeb

Question:

How can a woman who has menstruation pray the two Rak‘ahs (units of prayer) of Ihraam (ritual consecration)? Is it permissible for a woman who has menstruation to recite the Quran (by means of touching a printed copy (Mus’haf)) quietly?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: "First, you should know that there is no prayer for the Ihraam as nothing was reported that indicates that the Prophet legislated a certain prayer for Ihraam whether through his sayings, deeds or approval.

Second, the woman who menstruated before assuming the state of Ihraam can assume the state of Ihraam while menstruating as the Prophet asked Asmaa’ bint ‘Umays, the wife of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both, when she had post-partum bleeding to perform Ghusl (ritual bathing), wear a sanitary towel and assume the state of Ihraam. This also applies to a woman who is menstruating and stays in the state of Ihraam until she attains purity then performs Tawaaf (circumambulation) and Sa‘y (walking between Mounts Safa and Marwah.)

As for the remainder of the question, we say that a woman who is menstruating may recite Quran in that manner if there is a need or necessity, but if there is no need or necessity and she wants to recite just for the sake of worshipping Allah The Almighty and drawing closer to Him, it would be better not to recite it."

Allah Knows best.