Can a Menstruating Woman Read the Qur'an?

❓ Question

I want to know the ruling, along with the authentic evidence, regarding the reading of the Qur'an by a menstruating woman from various madhhabs (schools of thought)!

✅ Answer

1. First Opinion: Prohibition

The majority of scholars, specifically the Hanafi, Shafi'i, Hanbali, and a portion of the Maliki madhhabs, assert that it is forbidden (haram) for a menstruating woman to read the Qur'an. This stance is affirmed by the scholars of these schools.

• Ibn Rushd Al-Hafid Al-Maliki said:

  قِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ لِلْجُنُبِ، اخْتَلَفَ النَّاسُ فِي ذَلِكَ فَذَهَبَ الْجُمْهُورُ إِلَى مَنْعِ ذَلِكَ، وَذَهَبَ قَوْمٌ إِلَى إِبَاحَتِهِ

  “(Regarding) reading the Qur'an for a person in a state of major ritual impurity (junub). Scholars differed on this matter. The majority of scholars went to the opinion of prohibiting it, and a group of scholars permitted it.” (Bidayah Al-Mujtahid, 1/55)

• Al-Kasani Al-Hanafi said:

  وَلَا يُبَاحُ لِلْجُنُبِ قِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ عِنْدَ عَامَّةِ الْعُلَمَاءِ

  “It is not permissible for a person who is junub to read the Qur'an according to the general opinion of the scholars.” (Al-Badai’ As-Sanai’, 1/37)

• An-Nawawi Asy-Syafii said:

  وَهَذَا الَّذِي ذَكَرَهُ مِنْ تَحْرِيمِ قِرَاءَةِ الْقُرْآنِ عَلَى الْحَائِضِ هُوَ الصَّحِيحُ الْمَشْهُورُ وَبِهِ قَطَعَ الْعِرَاقِيُّونَ وَجَمَاعَةٌ مِنْ الْخُرَاسَانِيِّينَ

  “This matter mentioned before concerning the prohibition of reading the Qur'an for a menstruating woman is the correct and well-known opinion. It is decisively affirmed by the (Shafi'i) scholars of Iraq and a group from Khurasan.” (Al-Majmu’ Syarh Al-Muhaddzab, 2/356)

• Al-Mardawi Al-Hanbali said:

  تُمْنَعُ الْحَائِضُ مِنْ قِرَاءَةِ الْقُرْآنِ مُطْلَقًا عَلَى الصَّحِيحِ مِنْ الْمَذْهَبِ وَعَلَيْهِ جَمَاهِيرُ الْأَصْحَابِ، وَقَطَعَ بِهِ كَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ

  “A menstruating woman is forbidden from reading the Qur'an absolutely according to the sound opinion of the madhhab (Hanbali). This is adopted by the majority of the companions (of the Hanbali school) and affirmed by most of them.” (Al-Inshaf fi Ma’rifah Ar-Rajih, 1/347)

• Some Malikis also prohibited it, such as Ibn Al-Jizzi Al-Maliki:

  يُمْنَعُ الْحَيْضُ وَالنِّفَاسُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ شَيْئًا مِنْهَا السَّبْعَةُ الَّتِي تَمْنَعُهَا الْجَنَابَةُ وَهِيَ الصَّلَوَاتُ كَلُّهَا وَسُجُودُ التِّلَاوَةِ وَمَسُّ الْمُصْحَفِ وَدُخُولُ الْمَسْجِدِ وَالطَّوَافُ وَالْإِعْتِكَافُ وَقِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ وَقِيلَ يَجُوزُ لَهَا الْقِرَاءَةُ عَنْ ظَهْرِ قَلْبٍ

  “Menstruation and post-natal bleeding (nifas) prohibit twelve things. Among them are the seven things prohibited by janabah, which are all prayers, prostration of recitation, touching the Mushaf, entering the mosque, tawaf(circumambulation), i'tikaf (seclusion in the mosque), and reading the Qur'an. It is said that it is permissible for her to read the Qur'an from memory.” (Al-Qawanin Al-Fiqhiyyah p. 31)

 Evidence & Derivation

1. The primary evidence for this opinion is the narration of the Prophet’s saying:

   لاَ تَقْرَأِ الحَائِضُ وَلاَ الجُنُبُ شَيْئًا مِنَ القُرْآنِ

   “The menstruating woman and the junub person should not read anything from the Qur'an.” (HR. At-Tirmidzi: 131 from Abdullah bin Umar)

   • However, this hadith is weakened by At-Tirmidzi himself and Al-Bayhaqi [1]. It was declared weak by An-Nawawi who mentioned, “it was declared weak by Al-Bukhari, At-Tirmidzi, Al-Bayhaqi, and others [2].” Ibn Taymiyyah said, “This hadith is weak by the agreement of the experts in the field of hadith. [3]”

2. There is another piece of evidence, but it does not explicitly prohibit a menstruating woman from reading the Qur'an. Ali bin Abi Talib said:

   كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ الْخَلَاءِ فَيَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ وَيَأْكُلُ مَعَنَا اللَّحْمَ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ يَحْجُبُهُ عَنِ الْقُرْآنِ شَيْءٌ لَيْسَ الْجَنَابَةَ

   “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to come out of the lavatory and immediately read the Qur'an and eat meat with us. Nothing prevented him from the Qur'an except janabah (major ritual impurity).” (HR. An-Nasai: 265 and Abu Dawud: 229)

   • This hadith does not affirm the prohibition of reading the Qur'an for a junub person—even if it were authentic. This is because the Messenger of Allah only did not read the Qur'an when he was junub, not that he prohibited it. This is similar to Aishah's statement, “The Messenger of Allah never fasted a whole month except in the month of Ramadan,” which does not mean Muslims are forbidden from fasting a whole month in other months.

   • For the Malikis, this hadith applies only to the junub person, not to the menstruating woman. This is because a junub person can purify themselves with a major bath (ghusl) at any time without waiting for anything, whereas a menstruating woman has no choice but to wait for her menstrual blood to stop before she can purify herself. [5]

   • The existence of a difference in ruling between menstruation (haidh) and janabah is found in the Shari'ah, such as in the matter of fasting. The fast of a menstruating woman is invalid if she is not pure, while the fast of a junub person is valid even if they have not yet purified themselves. A menstruating woman's fast is invalid regardless of the situation, while a junub person's fast is valid if the janabah was not due to their will, such as in the case of a wet dream. Conversely, a person who misses prayer due to janabah is obligated to make up for their fast, while a menstruating woman who misses prayer due to menstruation is not allowed to make up for her prayer.

2. Second Opinion: Permissibility

This is the opinion of the Zhahiri school, the well-known opinion in the Maliki madhhab [6], one of the opinions of Asy-Syafii, and chosen by Asy-Syaukani [7], which is the permissibility for menstruating women and those in nifas(post-natal bleeding) to read the Qur'an.

• Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusi Ad-Dhahiri said:

  وَقِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ وَالسُّجُودُ فِيهِ وَمَسُّ الْمُصْحَفِ وَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى جَائِزٌ، كُلُّ ذَلِكَ بِوُضُوءٍ وَبِغَيْرِ وُضُوءٍ وَلِلْجُنُبِ وَالْحَائِضِ

  “Reading the Qur'an, prostrating in it (prostration of recitation), touching the Mushaf, and the remembrance of Allah Ta'ala are permissible. All of this is permissible with wudu (ablution) and without wudu, and for the junubperson and the menstruating woman.” (Al-Muhalla bi Al-Atsar, 1/94)

• Al-Kharasyi Al-Maliki said:

  أَنَّ الْحَيْضَ يَمْنَعُ مَسَّ الْمُصْحَفِ وَلَا يَمْنَعُ الْقِرَاءَةَ ظَاهِرًا أَوْ فِي الْمُصْحَفِ دُونَ مَسٍّ خَافَتْ النِّسْيَانَ أَمْ لَا لِعَدَمِ تَمَكُّنِهَا مِنْ الْغُسْلِ

  “Menstruation prohibits touching the Mushaf, but does not prohibit reading the Qur'an from memory or from the Mushaf without touching it. Whether she fears forgetting or not, this is due to her inability to perform ghusl (major bath).” (Syarh Mukhtashar Al-Khalil, 1/209)

• An-Nawawi Asy-Syafii said:

  وَحَكَى الْخُرَاسَانِيُّونَ قَوْلًا قَدِيمًا لِلشَّافِعِيِّ أَنَّهُ يَجُوزُ لَهَا قِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآن

  “The Khurasani (Shafi'i) scholars narrated an old opinion (qadim) of Asy-Syafii that it is permissible for a menstruating woman to read the Qur'an.” (Al-Majmu’, 2/356)

• Note on Differences: The Dhahiriyah equalize the ruling of junub and haidh regarding the permissibility of reading the Qur'an. In contrast, the Malikiyah only permit it for menstruating women and those in nifas [8], but not for the junub person, as narrated by Ibn Rushd Al-Maliki [9].

Evidence & Derivation

The evidence for this opinion is Al-Bara'ah Al-Asliyyah, which is part of Istishab (presumption of continuity), meaning a return to the original ruling.

• The original ruling is the permissibility of reading the Qur'an at any time (whether menstruating or not) because it is part of the remembrance of Allah, as long as there is no authentic and explicit (sharih) evidence prohibiting it. There are many verses of the Qur'an and hadiths of the Messenger of Allah that command the reading of the Qur'an. (This is the evidence of the Dhahiri school [11]).

• For the Malikiyah, there is no authentic hadith concerning the prohibition for a menstruating woman to read the Qur'an, thus returning to the original ruling of permissibility. The existing evidence only implicitly suggests a prohibition for the junub person, not for the menstruating woman, besides the acknowledged difference in rulings between the junub person and the menstruating woman. [12]

3. Third Opinion: Permissibility for Need

This opinion holds that reading the Qur'an is permissible for a menstruating woman only specifically for a woman who fears losing her memorization or who wishes to maintain her memorization. This was chosen by Ibn ‘Askar Al-Malikiand Ibn Taymiyyah Al-Hanbali.

• Ibn ‘Askar Al-Maliki said:

  وَيَمْنَعُ الْحَدَثُ الأَكْبَرُ مَا يَمْنَعُهُ الأَصْغَرُ، وَدُخُولُ الْمَسْجِدِ وَتِلاوَةُ الْقُرْآنِ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَخَافَ الْحَائِضُ النِّسْيَانَ

  “Major ritual impurity prohibits what minor ritual impurity prohibits, as well as entering the mosque and reciting the Qur'an, except for the menstruating woman who fears forgetting (her memorization).” (Irsyad As-Salik, 1/8)

• Ibn Taymiyyah Al-Hanbali said:

  وَلِهَذَا كَانَ أَظْهَرُ قَوْلَيْ الْعُلَمَاءِ أَنَّهَا لَا تُمْنَعُ مِنْ قِرَاءَةِ الْقُرْآنِ إذَا احْتَاجَتْ إلَيْهِ كَمَا هُوَ مَذْهَبُ مَالِكٍ وَأَحَدُ الْقَوْلَيْنِ فِي مَذْهَبِ الشَّافِعِيِّ وَيَذْكُرُ رِوَايَةً عَنْ أَحْمَد فَإِنَّهَا مُحْتَاجَةٌ إلَيْهَا وَلَا يُمْكِنُهَا الطَّهَارَةُ كَمَا يُمْكِنُ الْجُنُبَ

  “Therefore, the most correct of the two opinions among the scholars is that she is not prohibited from reading the Qur'an if she needs it, as is the madhhab of Malik, one of the two opinions in the madhhab of Asy-Syafii, and a narration mentioned from Ahmad. This is because she is in need of it, and it is not possible for her to purify herself as it is possible for the junub person.” (Majmu’ Al-Fatawa, 26/179)

 Evidence & Derivation

The basis is a combination of the evidence from the first and second opinions. That is, it is fundamentally prohibited, but because of a greater need and benefit (maslahah), it is permitted for a menstruating woman to read the Qur'an. This means it applies primarily to women who have memorized the Qur'an or Qur'an teachers. This opinion is slightly stricter than the second opinion. This view is based on the Usul Fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence) maxim:

“Necessities permit the prohibited things.” (Az-Zarkasyi in Al-Mantsur, 2/317) [13]
 

Conclusion

This issue is a recognized difference of opinion (khilafiyah) among the jurists.

• The majority of scholars (Hanafi, Shafi'i, and Hanbali) prohibit it.

• The Maliki and Dhahiri schools permit it.

• Some Malikis and Hanbalis permit it only specifically for a menstruating woman who fears losing her Qur'an memorization.

For those who wish to avoid scholarly disagreement, one can follow the opinion of the majority of scholars, especially the Shafi'iyyah which is the majority madhhab in Indonesia.

For those who are able to understand the mechanism of legal derivation in Islam, they should be honest in their conclusion [14].

For those who have a pressing need or necessity to read the Qur'an for specific reasons, it is permissible to adopt the Maliki opinion in this regard.

As for the evidence, there is no authentic hadith whose authenticity is agreed upon by the scholars that explicitly prohibits a menstruating woman from reading the Qur'an.

Wallahu a’lam (And Allah knows best).