So obviously my whole life I’ve been told that I can’t pray or fast or touch the quran or go into the masjid for as long as I have my period, but nobody’s ever told me why?
The thing is I thought the point of prayer was to be close to God and 5 times a day show him that you’re grateful to him etc. Considering that you’re supposed to pray even if you’re sick, or travelling or handicapped and you can pray lying down or however possible for a particular situation, why is that the only exemption to praying is when you have your period?
Does anyone have any sources from the quran or hadith that specify this order too?
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
^So what if a person is hospitalized and keep coming in touch with blood either being drawn out or being given. Aren't muslims supposed to pray in almost every condition possible even when are on their death bed. Why can't a woman pray during her periods? Is it just the blood from menstruation that's impure or blood in general is considered impure?
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
^If I am not wrong blood in general is considered impure.
Also there are times when people who deal with blood (for instance a butcher) are allowed to pray even in blood shed clothes. That's because that's how they make a living & for them avoiding blood is impossible.
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
Prayer is nothing but obeying Allah's order. It is also Allah's order, not to pray when you are having your periods. Obey that rule and you will get as much sawab.
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
YOu cannot pray in a state of impurity, and as Hareem mentioned, menstrual blood is considered impure. You also cannot fast in a state of impurity.
These benefits are given to us by Allah swt, so why be overenthusiastic? We are allowed to make up our missed fasts one:one at a later time. NO need to compensate for missed prayers during menstruation.
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
The reason is purity as it says in the Qur'an ... but contrary to the common belief blood alone is not what determines this purity ... it is a spiritual state of purity that is required. This state cannot be obtained during the true period ... bleeding for less than three days or for more than ten days is called istidah and when that happens different rulings are in place ... so when a woman bleeds from day 1 to day 2 and stops then she may resume prayers without ghusl, but if she continues to bleed after 3 days and 3 nights in a time which is in her periodic cycle date then she is in a condition of hayd ... If she bleeds or her fluid is yellow and not clear after 10 days then she should do ghusl and cover the private area to prevent flow of blood appropriately and resume prayers ... this is proof that blood alone is not the criteria for "purity" for prayers and it is inherently linked to a spiritual condition of purity which is measured by the normal periodic cycle - and abnormalities are not taken in to consideration to determine this state of impurity.
Why must purity be a condition? Well that knowledge is with Allah (SWT) but common sense tells us that we do not appear before our kings dressed in rags and being unwashed, that would be bad adab, so then how can we think of appearing before our Lord Allah (SWT) whilst being spiritually impure and physically impure?
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
Yeh as mentioned you're not in a pure state.. But it's better to look at it this way: When you're ordered to pray, you pray and you earn the reward. When you're ordered not to pray, you don't pray and you earn the reward. Win win situation :D
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
I always look at it this way that we get a 4 to 5 year head start from the males as to when we start our wajibaat. We start praying as welll as fasting years earlier than them so in the end no body gets an unfair advantage. :)
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
I don't understand this pov that one should question things that are said in the religion?! WHY? Allah does not ask for blind followers or does he?
We don't follow Allah (SWT) ... we follow the scholars ... the requirement of not following blindly is for them ... when it comes to Allah (SWT) we are slaves and a slave does not question his Master ... he obeys ... this condition is called submission ... which is why we are called Muslims ... we submit to His Will without question - questioning is a type of hesitance and a type of raising of our importance before we act on His Command.
Part of Iman is to recognise that Allah (SWT) deserves obedience from us, that since He is All-Knowing, and Loves us more than 70 mothers, and Most Wise then this should lead to a solid trust for the injunctions that He raises over us ... Sometimes we question to search for the wisdom to reflect on it ... but mostly questioning is a form of protest and should be avoided if we are to be true slaves.
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
i think this is a blessing of Allah to exempt muslim women from praying during their period,as it is a time of discomfort in general.
Infact if there was no such exemption some women would be complaining about why Allah ordained prayers in such a state!and Insaan is surely ungrateful..
PS:a woman in period can do dhikr and read quran from memory.
Re: Why can't you pray and fast when you have your period?
@ Hareem: yes I do pray, I have no issues with not praying when I have my period or fasting I just wanted to know, I can barely walk when I have my period let alone pray. But I was just curious because it didn't make sense to me. I'm not sure why its considered impure as well, does anyone know? I mean its not really something one can control? and its a natural part of every woman's life so what is impure about it?
also for those of you sayings its what God has ordered, where is it that he's ordered it? Is it in the Quran or some hadith? I really just want to know.
Also psyah I'm not saying we should question God, so if there's something written in the Quran I'll believe it but I sometimes tend to question society's understanding of it is all. Because unfortunately a lot of times culture gets tied into religion and its hard to know what is accurate and whats not. In this case I've always been told I can't do something, but I've never been told why, or where it says I cant do it, so naturally Im going to question if its actually true or if its just what people think or have known for long.
Re: Why can’t you pray and fast when you have your period?
Asalaamu Alaikum, A women can get the same reward if not more whilst she is on her menses during Ramadan. She can also sit in I’tikaf at a desginated place in her home even if she is on her menses. She does not have to even make up for the Salaah she missed on her menses but only the fasts. My article proves that a women on her menses need not worry at all but she can continue gaining immense rewards similar or even more than those who are fasting:
Re: Why can’t you pray and fast when you have your period?
FYI I had come across sites like this: Religious Duties for Women during menstruation period, which is what caused me to think about this question. I guess sites like these are mostly my quranists which the majority of mainstream Muslims are skeptical about but my knowledge of Islam is not strong enough to know the counter argument for such statements, so I was hoping others would know more information to negate or disprove these things.