Refuting the Claim That Intercourse With a Menstruating Woman Is Permissible if No Harm Resultsالرد على القول بجواز وطء الحائض إذا انتفى الأذى

Some have derived from the verse that if no harm (adha) results from intercourse with a menstruating woman — for instance, by using a protective covering — then it would be permissible. Is it sound, then, to interpret "harm" here as mere hardship, such that if there is no harm to the man or to the woman, this would be permitted, taking this from the verse: "They ask you about menstruation. Say, 'It is harm.'" Is this derivation sound? This is a strange claim with no basis — it is, in fact, a distortion of the words of Allah, a distortion of the Qur'an. There is scholarly consensus that what is meant by "adha" here is menstruation itself. This is one of the clear, established consensuses — that "adha" here refers to menstruation, not merely to physical harm in general. That is to say, if a woman is menstruating but there happens to be no bearable harm involved, no sane person would say intercourse becomes permissible on that basis. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Do everything except intercourse (nikah)" — narrated by Muslim in his Sahih through Hammad ibn Salamah, from Thabit, from Anas.

The scholars have reached consensus that the meaning of Allah's statement, "They ask you about menstruation. Say, 'It is harm,'" is that the menses — the blood that prevents intercourse, prayer, and fasting — is the "harm" referred to; that is, it is the blood itself. This is a matter of consensus among the scholars, one of the settled matters in Islamic law. That is why, if a man had intercourse with a menstruating woman on the claim that "there is no harm," he would have committed a major sin from among the major sins.

The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, differed over whether such a person must give charity as expiation. The most correct view is that the charity is not obligatory, because the hadith mentioning it is defective (ma'lul), and the correct ruling is that it is a statement stopped at the level of Ibn 'Abbas — not attributed to the Prophet ﷺ — though there is firm consensus that the act itself is forbidden. Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him, held that if ten days have passed since the onset of menstruation and the bleeding has stopped — even if she has not yet performed ghusl — intercourse becomes permissible with her. But as for during the flow of blood itself, whether at the beginning or the end of the period, no one has ever given a ruling of permissibility for that. This is a matter of scholarly consensus, based on the explicit text of the Qur'an.

Allah said, "So keep away from women during menstruation" — He did not say "keep away from women during harm," even though harm was what they had asked about. Reflect on how Allah phrased this: He did not say "keep away from women during the harm"; He said "keep away from women during menstruation," because the "harm" is the blood they had asked about when they said, "They ask you about menstruation" — so menstruation was explained to them, and then Allah said, "So keep away from women during menstruation, and do not approach them" — meaning do not have intercourse with them — "until they are purified," meaning until the blood stops and they perform ghusl from their menstruation. Only then, as Allah said, "come to them from where Allah has commanded you."

It has also come in the two Sahihs that the Prophet ﷺ said, in effect, "Is it not the case that when she menstruates, she does not pray and does not fast?" So what, then, is menstruation? It is the blood. This is also explained by his ﷺ statement, "Do everything except nikah" — meaning not the marriage contract, for nikah may also refer to the contract, but what is intended here is intercourse — that is, intercourse during the time of menstruation while blood is present. The reason ('illah), of course, is that it involves impurity, such that a child could be conceived in a state of impurity. This is forbidden and not permissible, even if the blood is minimal. It is not permitted until she is purified — until her blood stops and she performs ghusl as well.

النص العربي الأصلي