Can Women Enter the Mosque During Menses?

Can Women Enter the Mosque During Menses?

The majority of jurists of the four Schools of Fiqh are of the view that it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to enter and stay in the mosque . They quoted as evidence for that the report narrated by Al-Bukhari (974) and Muslim (890) from Umm `Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: “He (the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)) commanded us on the two `Ids to bring out the virgins and those who usually stayed in seclusion, but he told the menstruating women to keep away from the prayer-place of the Muslims.” 

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told menstruating women to stay away from the Eid prayer-place, because it comes under the same ruling as a mosque. This indicates that menstruating women are not allowed to enter the mosque. 

They also quoted other Hadiths as evidence, but they are inauthentic and are not valid to be quoted as evidence, such as the Hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is reported to have said, “The mosque is not permitted for menstruating women or anyone who is Junub.” This Hadith was classed as inauthentic by Al-Albani in Da`if Abu Dawud, 232. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked (6/272): 

What is the ruling on a woman who enters the mosque when she is menstruating to listen to the Khutbah only? 

They relied: 

“It is not permissible for a woman to enter the mosque when she is menstruating or bleeding following childbirth… as for passing through, there is nothing wrong with that if it is necessary and there is no risk of her contaminating the mosque, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“nor when you are in a state of Janabah (i.e. in a state of sexual impurity and have not yet taken a bath), except when travelling on the road (without enough water, or just passing through a mosque), till you wash your whole body.” [An-Nisa’ 4:43]

A menstruating woman is similar to one who is in a state of major impurity. And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told `Aishah to fetch him something from the mosque when she was menstruating.” (Fatawa Al-Lajnah Ad-Da’imah, 6/272)

Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Is it permissible for a menstruating woman to attend Halaqahs in the mosque? 

He replied: 

“It is not permissible for a menstruating woman to stay in the mosque. As for passing through the mosque, there is nothing wrong with that, subject to the condition that there is no risk of the mosque being contaminated with the blood that is coming out of her. If it is not permissible for her to stay in the mosque, it is not permissible for her to go there to listen to Halaqahs and recitation of Quran, unless there is a place outside the mosque where the sound can reach via loudspeakers, in which case there is nothing wrong with her sitting there to listen to the Dhikr. There is nothing wrong with a woman listening to Dhikr and recitation of Quran, as it is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to lay his head in `Aishah’s lap and recite Quran when she was menstruating. But it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to go to the mosque and stay there to listen to Dhikr or Quran recitation. Hence when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard, during the Farewell Pilgrimage, that Safiyyah was menstruating, he said: “Has she detained us?” because he thought that she had not done Tawaf Al-ifadah , but they said that she had already done it. This indicates that it is not permissible to stay in the mosque even for acts of worship. And it is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told women to go out to the `Id prayer-place to pray and remember Allah (Dhikr), but he told the menstruating women to keep away from the prayer-place itself.” (Fatawa At-Taharah, p. 273) (See the views of the jurists in Al-Mabsut, 3/153; Hashiyat Ad-Dusuqi, 1/173; Al-Majmu`, 2/388; Al-Mughni, 1/195)

Can You Read the Quran during menses?

A menstruating woman may read the Quran without touching the Mus-haf . She may read a Mus-haf that is printed with the Tafsir (commentary). Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said: As for the books of Tafsir, it is permissible (for a menstruating woman) to touch them, because they are regarded as Tafsir, and the verses that are in them are less than the Tafsir that is in them. 

They quoted as evidence for this the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wrote letters to the disbelievers containing verses from the Quran, which indicates that the ruling depends on what constitutes the majority of the letter, which was not the word of Allah. 

But if the Quran and Tafir are of equal amounts, this comes under the rule that when the reasons for regarding something as permissible are equal to the reasons for making it forbidden, and there is no way of distinguishing which outweighs the other, then the reasons for forbidding it take precedence, so it comes under the same rulings as Quran. 

If the Tafsir is more, even if it is only slightly more, then it comes under the same rulings as Tafsir.” (Ash-Sharh Al-Mumti`, 1/267)

What is mentioned in the question about the menstruating woman being afraid of missing some topics or lessons if she cannot enter the mosque can be dealt with by recording those lessons, or by her listening from outside the mosque, if that is possible. Some mosques have additional rooms that do not come under the same rulings as mosques, such as a library or rooms for memorising the Quran, so women who are not allowed to sit in the mosque should be able to sit there. 

And Allah knows best.