Q.1. Is it permissible for a married couple to have sexual play or romance when the wife is in her period?
Q.2. If one uses tissues to dry himself after urination, is this sufficient for purification, or is it obligatory to use water to wash the place?
N. Arif, Riyadh
A.1. Yes, all foreplay, kissing, and other pleasurable actions are permissible during one’s wife’s period, provided that one does not come near her genital organ. Aishah, the Prophet’s wife reports: “The Prophet sometimes asked me to tie well my underwear and he played with me when I was in my period.”
One of the Prophet’s companions once went to Aishah and said to her: “I have a question to ask you but I feel shy.” She said: “Ask whatever you wish; for I am your mother.” He said: “How much can one have of his wife when she is in the period?” She replied: “Everything except her genital organ.”
These two Hadiths are clear in their import, and confirm what we stated at the outset. As for Aishah’s description of herself as that man’s mother, this is a reference to the Qur’anic description of all the Prophet’s wives as “mothers of the believers.”
A.2. Yes, this is sufficient, although washing the genital area with water after drying it with a tissue paper is much more preferable.
