Saturday 20 Jumada al-akhirah 1446 - 21 December 2024
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She got her menses after ‘Arafah and did tawaaf when she was menstruating

Question

I went for Hajj, and after the day of ‘Arafah I got my menses, but I did not tell anyone because I felt too shy. At the end of Hajj we went to do the farewell tawaaf, and I entered the Haram without being in a state of purity. What is the ruling? Is my Hajj valid and acceptable?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly: 

Getting one’s menses does not affect ihram and does not prevent one from doing the rituals, except that it is not valid for women who are menstruating or bleeding following childbirth to do tawaaf until they have become pure, because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (305) and Muslim (1211) from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that when she got her menses just before entering Makkah for the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do what the pilgrims do, but do not circumambulate the Ka‘bah until you becomes pure.” 

Al-Bukhaari (4401) and Muslim (1211) narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that Safiyyah bint Huyayy, the wife of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) got her menses during the Farewell Pilgrimage, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Is she detaining us?” I said: She has already done tawaaf al-ifaadah, O Messenger of Allah. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Then let her leave.” 

Secondly: 

One of the essential parts of Hajj is tawaaf al-ifaadah, the time for which begins from the middle of the night before the Day of Sacrifice. It is permissible to delay it until the end of Hajj and to combine it with the farewell tawaaf, with one intention. 

It is not permissible for a woman who is menstruating to do tawaaf al-ifaadah at the time of her menses, unless she has come from a distant country and it is not possible for her to remain in Makkah until she becomes pure, or to return to Makkah after she becomes pure in order to complete her Hajj. 

Based on that, if you did tawaaf al-ifaadah after the middle of the night before the Day of Sacrifice, and after standing in ‘Arafah, you do not have to do anything further, because the farewell tawaaf is not obligatory for the menstruating woman, as we shall see below. 

And if your menses came after Arafah and before doing tawaaf al-ifaadah, then you did tawaaf al-ifaadah when you were menstruating, or you delayed this tawaaf until the time of the farewell tawaaf, and did tawaaf when you were menstruating, then your tawaaf was not valid, and you have not completed the second stage of exiting ihram; you have to go back to Makkah and do tawaaf al-ifaadah, and it is not permissible for your husband to be intimate with you until you have done tawaaf. 

Thirdly: 

The menstruating woman is not obliged to do the farewell tawaaf. If she has already done tawaaf al-ifaadah, then she gets her menses, she may leave Makkah without doing the farewell tawaaf and she does not have to do anything further. 

Fourthly: 

If intercourse occurred in the past, when you were unaware of the ruling on your situation, then there is no blame on you, but it is not permissible for you to do that in the future until you complete your Hajj. 

For more information, please see the answers to questions no. 47289 and 112271 

And Allah knows best.

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Source: Islam Q&A