Pivotal Quotes
“…once the woman obeys the commandment of her Lord to refrain from performing the ṣalāh during her menstrual cycle, she is rewarded just like the person who actually performs the ṣalāh…”
سؤال وجواب – عربي – ٢:٢٩ دقائق
Question and Answer – English [3:01]
Question:
The Muslim woman who is on her menses during the last 10 nights knows that there are other acts of worship that she can perform other than ṣalāh, but because she misses out on performing the ṣalāh and Tarāwīḥ, she feels a bit sad at times, so what advice do you have for the Muslim woman who is on her menses during that last 10 nights?
Answer:
I advise her to believe in what Allāh (عز وجل) has decreed and what He has written upon the daughters of Ādam. Certainly, the monthly cycle is something that is out of the control of the woman.
When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) came and found ʿĀʾishah (رضى الله عنها) on Ḥajj crying, he asked her if her menses has started to which she replied, “Yes”. He said, “This is something that Allāh has decreed upon the daughters of Ādam, so do everything that the pilgrim does except for making ṭawāf around the Kaʿbah.”
So the menstrual cycle is something that has been written upon the woman, and once the woman obeys the commandment of her Lord to refrain from performing the ṣalāh during her menstrual cycle, she is rewarded just like the person who actually performs the ṣalāh, just the only thing that prevented her from doing so was obedience to her Lord. This is the same that applies to the travelling person and the sick person who have the habit of performing an act of worship when their travels or their sickness prevents them from performing that act of worship, they can continue to get the reward of that act of worship that they have established doing. My advice towards the Muslim woman during these nights is not to be sad and to know that she is being rewarded and know that there are other acts of worship that she can perform aside from the ṣalāh such as, making dua’, making istighfār, saying the du’ā that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) taught ʿĀʾishah:
“اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عُفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي”
“O Allāh, You are Oft-Pardoning, You love to forgive, so forgive me”.
She can read the Qurʾān without directly touching the Muṣḥaf with her hands. The virtue of standing on Laylatul Qadr as mentioned in the ḥadīth, “Whoever stands on Laylatul Qadr out of īmān and iḥtisān will have his previous sins forgiven”, this standing is not only standing in the ṣalāh, rather every other act of worship is part of that standing on the night of Qadr, and Allāh knows best.