Lady Aishah, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), praised the women of the Ansar because they did not allow their shyness to stop them from asking questions concerning the performance of their religious duties. They put their questions to the Prophet overcoming the natural shyness of young women who might have otherwise felt too embarrassed to ask. Yet there is a well-known saying that no one should feel any embarrassment concerning matters related to religion and the performance of religious duties. One aspect that relates to offering the pilgrimage and can prevent a young woman from asking open questions is that of her period and how she should conduct her pilgrimage if it falls during the days of pilgrimage.
There is no shortage of advice people will give in this respect, but much of it may be mistaken or unnecessary. Some people suggest that a woman who expects to have her period during her pilgrimage should delay offering her pilgrimage. What nonsense! How can she know that she will not have the same dilemma next year or the year after that? Moreover, if a woman is able to do the pilgrimage this year, how can she be sure that, should she delay it because of her period, she will have the means and the ability to do it next year? Since women have their period for one week in every four-week cycle, it is reasonable to assume that 25 percent of women pilgrims in the reproductive age could be in the period during their pilgrimage. If they were to be prevented by their period from fulfilling their duties, this would create endless problems. Therefore, a woman who is in her period can go ahead and offer her pilgrimage like the rest of us observing, however, with certain restrictions.
When a woman is in her period, she does not offer her prayers. This restriction applies at all times, including the pilgrimage days. Similarly, a woman pilgrim who is in her period must not enter the Sacred Mosque or do the tawaf. This is the only restriction which applies to her when she is in that condition. In other words, she may go ahead and do all the duties of pilgrimage, because all those duties take place outside the Sacred Mosque. Only the tawaf is done inside.
When the Prophet started his journey of pilgrimage, he was accompanied by tens of thousands of his followers, many of whom were women. Abu Bakr’s wife, Asma’ bint Umays, gave birth to her son, Muhammad, just before they reached the meeqat where all pilgrims coming from Madinah should enter into the state of consecration, or ihraam. She sent to the Prophet asking what should she do. He instructed her to take a bath and to use some sort of absorbent material which should be placed tightly at a suitable position to prevent her discharge from staining her clothes, and to enter into the state of consecration.
This tells us that it is perfectly permissible for a woman who is in her menstruation or having post-natal discharge to initiate the Umrah or the pilgrimage. It is well-known that both types of discharge are treated in the same way with regard to the fulfillment of worship duties.
Nowadays, it is possible for a woman who expects to have her period at the time of pilgrimage to use some tablets to delay her menstruation. If a woman wishes to do this, she is entitled to it. However, these tablets do not work in all cases. They may delay a woman’s period for a few days, or even longer, but it is also possible that their effect may be minimal. They may do no more than delay her period for a day or two and this short delay may land her in even worse problems with regard to the fulfillment of her pilgrimage duties and her departure. It is necessary, therefore, to outline the possible situations which a woman in menstruation may encounter with regard to her pilgrimage. In this we depend on what the Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed his wife, Aishah, who had her period just before entering Makkah. She reports that the Prophet told her: “This is a condition God has imposed on all women. Therefore, do all the duties a pilgrim does, with the exception of the tawaf around the Kaaba.”
There are different situations to consider with regard to the performance of their pilgrimage duties by such women. A woman who expects to have her period on the 7th or 8th of Dul Hijjah may wish to start her journey by doing the Umrah. She will then release herself from ihraam if she opts for the tamattu’ method, which is the one preferred by the Prophet. She would thus have completed the Umrah. On the 8th of Dul Hijjah, regardless of the condition she finds herself in, she begins her pilgrimage, entering into the state of consecration. She may do all the duties of pilgrimage, including attendance at Arafat, stay at Muzdalifah, stoning at the Jamrahs in Mina, but not the tawaf of ifaadah. She has to delay this tawaf until she has finished her period. When her period is over, she performs the tawaf of ifaadah and follows it with sa’ie. After completing this, she would have performed all her pilgrimage duties except for the tawaf of farewell, which is done just before departure from Makkah. This means that she has to time her departure and her flight, if she is leaving by plane, so as to make sure that she is able to complete her duties. The same applies to a woman who begins her period after she has started her pilgrimage, but before doing the tawaf of ifaadah.
A woman who expects to have her period during the pilgrimage days should try to complete the tawaf of ifaadah as soon as possible after it becomes due, so that she is able to complete her pilgrimage without allowing her period to interfere with her plans of departure. If she has done this tawaf and then she begins her period, she continues with her duties of pilgrimage. If she is due to leave for home before her period is over, she may do so, even without doing the tawaf of farewell. She becomes exempt from it. She need not compensate for it in any way. However, if her period is over before she has left the city of Makkah, she must go back, take a bath and do the tawaf of farewell.
If a woman enters into the state of consecration declaring her intention to do the Umrah, but then she starts her menstruation period before she begins her tawaf, she cannot do any of the duties of her Umrah until she has finished her period. If it so happens that the pilgrimage begins before her period is over, she simply declares verbally her intention to do the pilgrimage, without releasing herself from the state of consecration. If she does this on the 8th of Dul Hijjah, effectively her pilgrimage becomes in the qiran method. This means that she does the actions of the pilgrimage only and they count for both the pilgrimage and the Umrah. She does not do the tawaf of arrival, unless she has completed her period and taken a bath before she starts for Arafat. She carries on with her duties of pilgrimage and she does the tawaf of ifaadah after her period is over. She has to slaughter a sheep like every pilgrim who opts for the qiran or the tamattu’ methods. This sacrifice is one of gratitude to God for enabling her to do the pilgrimage and the Umrah in the same season. She may partake of the meat of the sacrifice. This is what the Prophet instructed Aishah, his wife who was in this condition, to conduct her pilgrimage. He also explained to her that her actions for her pilgrimage sufficed for both the pilgrimage and the Umrah. However, she was keen to do the Umrah separately and the Prophet told her brother, Abd Al-Rahman, to take her to Al-Taneem, the nearest point in the Hil area, to start her consecration again and to do the Umrah separately. Any woman in this position can do this if she so chooses.