The Menstruating Woman & The Night Of Al-Qadr (Decree)
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Ramadan
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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
EsinIslam
Ramadan
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