What should a woman do when she has her monthly period and she is unable to offer Salah


Question:

What should a woman do when she has her monthly period and she is unable to offer Salah (Prayer)?

Answer:

A woman is exempted from offering Salah during her menstrual period. In fact it is prohibited for her to offer Salah during menstrual days and she is not required to make up for the Salah she missed after she is purified from menses out of Allah’s Mercy and Grace, to make things easy for women. It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) addressed women saying: “Is it not true that when she menstruates, she neither offers Salah (Prayer) nor observes Sawm (Fast)?” The women said, “Yes.” He said, “This is the lack in her religion.” (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) 1.

It is also authentically reported that Mu‘adhah asked ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) saying: “Why is that a menstruating woman has to make up for the missed days of Sawm (fast), but not for the missed Salah (prayers)?” `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked, “Are you a Harori (from Harowraa village where Khawarij lived: some sects of Khawarij obliged women to make up for missed Salah during menstruation period)?” She said, “No, I am not. I am just asking.” ‘Aishah said, “When we experienced this (menstruation) (at the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him), we were commanded to make up for the fasts but we were not commanded to make up for the prayers.” Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and the Compilers of Sunan (Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidhy, Al-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah) 2.

  1. Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on menstruation, no. 304; and Muslim, Sahih, Book on faith, no. 80. ↩

  2. Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on menstruation, no. 321; Muslim, Sahih, Book on menstruation, no. 335; Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on purification, no. 130; Al-Nasa’i, Sunan, Book on fasting, no. 2318; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on purification, no. 262; Ibn Majah, Sunan, Book on purification and its Sunan, no. 631; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 6, p. 232; and Al-Darimy, Sunan, Book on purification, no. 986. ↩