02. HAIZ KE ZAMANE AUR MUDDAT

The Age at which Menses Starts & Ends

First: Is There an Age Period?

Menses occurs between the ages of twelve and fifty although a woman may have it before or after depending upon her condition and environment.The Ulama’ (Scholars) of Islam, may Allah’s Mercy be upon them all, differed whether there is a specific age period in which menses is manifested and about the nature of the blood that the woman may have prior to or after this period: is her blood a Haid blood or an unrelated blood? After referring to the different opinions about this matter, Imam Al-Daarimee^[1] concluded that: “to me all are wrong, because the criteria should be the presence or absence of the released blood regardless of the age period, and therefore this type of blood should be considered as Haid, and Allah Knows best.” What Al-Daarimee said is the correct position and this is also the choice of Shayekul Islam Ibn Taymeeyah ^[2]. Accordingly, when the woman sees the menstrual blood then she is in an actual state of Haid even though she may be less than nine or more than fifty years old. This is because Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) made the rule for Haid effective only when Haid is present and according to these rules there was no mention of a certain age for the
commencing or ending of Haid. Hence, specifying an age period requires an evidence from Qur’an and Sunnah and this is not available.

Second: The time of duration of Haid

There is a great deal of dispute amongst the Ulama’ regarding the period of time in which a woman is considered to be in Haid. Some Scholars say: “There is no limiting number of days for the existence of Haid either light or intensive. This author says: “This opinion is like that of Al-Daarimee (above) and it is the choice of Shayekul Islam Ibn Taymeeyah and it is the right opinion because it is substantiated by evidences from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and good analogy: 

Evidence No. 1: The saying of Allah (Most High):

وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْمَحِيضِ ۖ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًۭى فَٱعْتَزِلُوا۟ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فِى ٱلْمَحِيضِ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَطْهُرْنَ ۖ

They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about menstruation. Say, “Beware of its harm! So keep away, and do not have intercourse with your wives during their monthly cycles until they are purified.^[1] When they purify themselves, then you may approach them in the manner specified by Allah. Surely Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves.”

[Surah Baqarah:02: 222]

It is clear that Allah made the reason behind abstention from legal sexual intercourse with the woman is the lack of purity during her Haid and not the end of a certain period of time: a day, a night, three days, not even fifteen days. This is a proof that the reason for the above ruling by Allah is either the presence of Haid (and its harm and impurity) or its absence (state of purity).

Evidence No.2:

What has been confirmed by the Prophet (ﷺ) in the authentic book of Hadeeth known as Saheeh Al-Bukhari when he (ﷺ) explained to his wife ‘Aisha (عائشہ رضی اللہ عنہا) what to do when she had her menstrual period after assuming her state of Ihram^[3] for Umra^[4]: “Do all that the Pilgrim is supposed to do except that you don’t perform Tawaff (Circumambulation) around the Ka’ba till you are clean (from your Haid)^[5]. She said: “On the Day of Nahr (animal sacrifice: 10th day of Dhul Hijja), I was pure.”

It is also reported in another Hadeeth (Saheeh Al-Bukhari) that the Prophet (ﷺ) told her (i.e., ‘Aisha): “Wait till you become clean from your menses and then go to At-Tan’eem (a place in Makkah), assuming Ihram (and after performing Umra) join us at such and such place.”^[6] So, the Prophet (ﷺ) made it clear that the reason behind preventing ‘Aisha from performing the rites of Hajj is her state of cleanliness and not a specified period for the duration of her menstrual bleeding. This indicates that the Islamic ruling regarding this issue is related to the presence or absence of menstrual blood.

Evidence No.3:

Estimates and details given by some Jurists regarding the age at which menses starts and ends is not present in the Book of Allah and in the Sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) although this issue is definitely needed and necessity demands its clarification. If it were obligatory to understand these estimates and to use them in the worship Allah, then Allah and His Messenger would have clearly made it known to everyone. This is because of the importance of the Islamic rulings that govern many aspects of worship of Allah and which depend upon the state of menses, for example, Prayer, Fasting, Marriage, Divorce, Inheritance and others. As it is known, Allah (SW) and His Messenger (ﷺ) explained:

•Prayers, their numbers, their times, their Ruk’oou, and their Sujood.
•Zakat ^[7] its types of wealth and property; Nissab ^[8], its due amount, and its recipients.
•Siyam (Fasting): its period and the specified times in the day,
•Hajj (Pilgrimage)
•The etiquettes of eating, drinking, sleeping, sexual intercourse with the wife, sitting, entering and leaving the home, the way to answer the call of nature, even the number of stones to be used in Istijmar,^[9] and many more details about the
minute as well as the greatest types of actions by which Allah (SW) had completed His religion of Islam and perfected His favors upon the believers as He (SW) says:

هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ ۚ وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ تِبْيَـٰنًۭا لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةًۭ وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ ٨٩

“And We have sent down the Book (Qur’an) as an exposition of everything.”(Qur’an 16: 89)

ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ ۗ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًۭا يُفْتَرَىٰ وَلَـٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ

“It (the Qur’an) is not a forged statement but a confirmation of what came before (of Allah’s Books: the Torah, the Gospel and other Scriptures) and a detailed explanation of everything.”(Qur’an 12: 111)

Hence, since there is no mention of these estimates in the Book of Allah and in the Sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) it became clear that one can rule them out of consideration. In fact, the consideration (as proven above) is to be determined by the presence or absence of menstrual blood. There is an important benefit to be deduced from the discussion of this issue and that is the fact that Islamic rulings cannot be confirmed except by an evidence from the Book of Allah (Qur’an) or the Sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) or a known Ijmaa,’ ^[10] or good Qiyass.^[11] Shayekul Islam Ibn Taymeeyah said in one of his basic rulings: “…and such is the Name: Haid, Allah had based upon it many rulings in the Book and Sunnah and He did not give us an “estimate” for what constitutes its shortest or its longest period. He (SW) also did not specify the time for which the woman is considered clean between any of her two menstrual periods, although the Ummah is mostly affected by this issue and need to know about it. Linguistically the Name Haid does not characterize one “estimate” or another. So, anyone who estimates a certain time limit for Haid then he/she had taken a position that is not in accordance with the Book and Sunnah.”

Evidence No. 4:

The Qiyass: Allah (SW) established that Haid is painful, impure and harmful thing and that is why there should be no sexual intercourse during its manifestation. So as long as there is Haid then there is harm and impurity with no difference between the second day and the first nor between the fourth and the third,… the sixteenth and the fifteenth, the eighteenth and the seventeenth because Haid remains to be Haid and painful and harm remains to be harm! The reason is equally present in any of the days. So, how can it be acceptable to have separate rulings, one for each day, although the existing reason governing the ruling about Haid is the same for both? This is against good Qiyass. Is it not that good Qiyass is to consider equal application of the ruling on both days because the reason behind the ruling equally exists in both of them?

Evidence No.5:

The disagreements and disturbances in the sayings of those who specify a certain period of time for Haid indicates the absence of evidence for such sayings. These opinions were arrived at by Ijtihaad^[12]  and they are subject to being wrong or right and none of these opinions have precedence over the other. And at times of dispute matters have to be referred to Qur’an and Sunnah. It should be clear by now that the strongest ruling is that there is no time limitation for either the shortest or longest Haid and accordingly: what the woman sees from her natural blood (other than a wound or something similar) is menstrual blood without consideration for time estimates or age factors except the case in which the flow of blood does not cease or it ceases for one or two days per month and in which the woman is considered to be in a state of Istihadah (see later).

Shayekul Islam Ibn Taymeeyah said: “Basically everything that comes out from the womb is Haid until an evidence can be established to indicate that it is Istihadah.” He also said: “Any released blood is a Haid blood unless it is known to be the type of wound blood or bleeding from a blood vessel”. Not only this saying is the strongest view but also it is the closest to understand and contemplate and easiest to practice. It deserves to be accepted above all other views because it fits the spirit and essence of Islam which is relief and easiness. Allah, Most High, said:

وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍۢ ۚ

“And He has chosen for you (to convey Islam to mankind), and has not laid upon you any hardship in Deen (religion as a code of life prescribed byAllah, i.e., Islam).” (Qur’an 22: 78)

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Verily this Deen is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded”17. It is also known that part of the character of the Prophet (ﷺ) is that whenever he had to choose between two matters he would chose the easier one unless it is a wrong-doing.

REFERENCE:

BOOK: NATURAL BLOOD OF WOMEN

By Shayekh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Utheimeen

Second Edition / Translated & Researched by Saleh-As .Saleh S .Dr