With regard to the menstruating woman reading Qur’aan, if she is looking at it or thinking of it in her heart, without speaking the words out loud, there is nothing wrong with that, such as if the Mus-haf is placed there, and she looks at the verses and reads them in her heart. Al-Nawawi said in Sharh Muslim: it is permissible and there is no difference of scholarly opinion on this point.
But if she is reciting it out loud, the majority of scholars are of the view that this is not allowed.
Al-Bukhaari, Ibn Jareer, al-Tabari and Ibn al-Mundhir said it is permissible, and this was also narrated from Maalik and from al-Shaafa’i in his former view. That was narrated from them in Fath al-Baari. And al-Bukhaari narrated in a mu’allaq report from Ibraheem al-Nakha’i that there is nothing wrong with her reciting a verse.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in al-Fataawa: There is no report saying that she should not read Qur’aan. The hadeeth “No menstruating woman or person who is junub should recite anything from the Qur’aan” is a weak hadeeth, according to the consensus of the scholars who are well-versed in hadeeth. Women used to menstruate at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and if reading was haraam for them as prayer is, this would have been something that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) explained to his ummah and the Mothers of the Believers would have known that, and it would have been something that they told to the people. But since no one narrated any prohibition concerning that from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), it is not permissible to regard it as haraam, since it is known that he did not forbid that, and as he did not forbid that despite the fact that menstruation was widespread at his time, it is known that it is not haraam. End quote.
Since we know that there is a difference of opinion among the scholars concerning this, what should be said is: it is better for a menstruating woman not to recite Qur'aan out loud except when there is need for that, such as if she is a teacher and she needs to teach her students, or in the case of an exam when the student needs to recite in order to be tested, and so on.
Bookmarks