^ I'll see if I can dig up the stuff from my college Islam courses.
I'd like to see which Hadith and such you are referring to.
The only one I can think of right now is that women should go to Eid prayers even if they are menstruating which indirectly indicates that they are not to pray during that time.
Here is the exact hadith which is out of the book "The Ideal Muslimah" by Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi.
Bukhari narrates a report from Umm 'Atiyah, in which she says: "We used to be commanded to go out on the day of Eid, and we even brought the virgins out of their seclusion, and the menstruating women, who would stay behind the people, joining in their takbiraat and du'aa's, hoping for the blessing and purity of that day."
Another one is Umm Atiyah said: The Messenger of Allah commanded us to bring out to the 'Eid prayers the adolescent and prepubescent girls, those who usually remained in seclusion, and virgins, and he ordered those who were menstruating to keep away from the prayer-place."
There must be more direct hadiths, I will look into it and get back
let me clarify to you again what I said earlier.
Not every one shares their period details with other people because they think Islam/culture prohibited it or they are dirty.
Some times people do this because they don’t want to share PERIOD ( I know ironic )
This should be a personal preference what an individual wants to share or not and no one has the right to judge them thinking they have a backward mentality or they don’t understand the religion completely
I think it is more to do with the concept of ramadan and not being ashamed of ones bodily functions, its the same as breasts, all females have them, yet we cover them up for modesty/sharam reason, yet we do not cover our hands/face, why? somethings are just meant to be a certain way and periods are one.
i know lots of goris who dont openly mention it at work if they are having a bad day and someone askes,no one says oh pmt....people just dont say it. they are also careful about showing anyone a tampon...its the same everywhere.
and in ramadan we need to be careful og people who are fasting, it doesnt look good if my brother etc are all fasting and they see me eating, maybe doesnt look respectful....i dont know. however i have yet to meet someone who has been forced to pray....
I agree - some people simply don't want the whole world to know what is going on about their bodies. people don't say "oh I just farted, i can't touch the qur'an right now". they just quietly say "i don't remember if i have wudu". There's nothing wrong with saying they farted, but honestly, why does everyone have to know?
I don't like being asked and explaining why i am not fasting, so i just don't eat in front of my dad and brothers. i don't care if other ladies know, but i just don't feel comfortable sharing that- i mean it's a pretty intimate detail, i don't go around telling everyone if i have diarrhea or constipation. What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom, call me a prude if you will. I do this by choice, my mom actually tells me not to fake-fast and eat up, it has nothing to do with islam or being backward or anything. if that were the case, i'm more backward than mom.
To the other poster whose MIL is a bit weird about these things- i think she's just kinda jealous b/c she didn't get to skip fasts lol
I've never understood why some ppl consider it 'disrespectful' to eat if u have ur period whilst others are fasting.. as long as ur not shoving it in their faces I can't see what the big deal is.. a lot of older desis are diabetic and can't eat certain foods but it doesn't mean their kids shouldn't eat them either, does it? Seems that whenever womens issues are involved a lot of us tend to go OTT.
When my brother or dad ask why I'm not fasting I just tell them straight I have my period.. When my brother was younger (up to mid-teens) my mum would just say 'she's not well.'
i have never woken up for sehri during my period or pretended to be fasting around the male members of my family. i think its silly to try and hide it and pretend like u are fasting as if they are that stupid and dont know whats going on. ofcourse i dont flaunt it in their faces that im not fasting but still its not a big deal if they see me eating or if im absent from sehri. they dont bother asking me why im not fasting because they know there's only one reason for it
I do remember being at Islamic school one day and a younger brother of one of my friends was upset with her and they were arguing over something. In the middle of the main hall he yelled out that she was a liar and didn't even read namaz when she said she did. I think it was related to this whole issue. It was very embarrassing for her and the family.
My dad and brother know that if I don't come down in the morning it's because I'm on my periods as that's the only reason why I miss fasts. So they don't ask me questions about why I'm not fasting, I'm sure most men would put two and two together and wouldn't ask questions anyway. I don't understand why it's hidden from dads, brothers, husbands...it's not like the information is traumatising for them or anything.
But, if you don't wish to disclose the fact that you're menstruating then fair enough...it just seems a tad pointless to me.
^ I didn't say it was pointless to not discuss it...it's pointless to hide it imo. A period is 100% natural it's not some weird embarrasing disease that needs to be hidden. Just because you don't come down for sehri doesn't mean you have to have a full blown conversation with your dad/brother/husband about periods. There doesn't need to be a discussion as most guys would put two and two together. But, like I said before if people aren't comfortable even hinting at the fact that they have a period then that's their choice.
let me clarify to you again what I said earlier.