Muhammad and Menstruation



The Quran expressly prohibits a man from approaching his wife during her monthly cycle:

They will question thee concerning the monthly course. Say: 'It is hurt; so go apart from women during the monthly course, and do not approach them till they are clean. When they have cleansed themselves, then come unto them as God has commanded you.' Truly, God loves those who repent, and He loves those who cleanse themselves. S. 2:222 Arberry

Here is another version:

They ask you concerning menstruation. Say: that is an Adha (a harmful thing for a husband to have a sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her menses), therefore keep away from women during menses and go not unto them till they have purified (from menses and have taken a bath). And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah has ordained for you (go in unto them in any manner as long as it is in their vagina). Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (by taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts, bodies, for their prayers, etc.). Hilali-Khan

The hadith provides an example of how the foregoing directive was carried out:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
When I menstruated, I left the bed and lay on the reed-mat and did not approach or come near the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) until we were purified. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 1, Number 0271)

As a sidenote, it is interesting that it is Aisha who has to leave the bed, not Muhammad, even though it is supposedly her house. He has plenty of other beds he could go to sleep in, but Aisha now has to lie on the floor!

It is obvious from the above that men were forbidden from approaching menstruating women altogether, which agrees fully with some of the ritual purity commands found in God’s true Word, the Torah or Pentateuch:

"When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean." Leviticus 15:19-24

"Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her unclothedness during her menstrual impurity." Leviticus 18:19

Moreover, Muhammad went a step further by classifying menstruation as Satan’s handiwork:

Narrated Grandfather of Adi ibn Thabit
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Sneezing, drowsing, yawning in prayer, also menstruation, vomiting and nose-bleeding are from (the acts of) Satan. Transmitted by Tirmidhi. (Tirmidhi Hadith, Number 315;

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