Can a woman recite the Qur'an during her menses?

Question

During a recent Jumuah prayer I heard a hadeeth about Abu Hurairah (RAA)

Abu Huraira reported: He met the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in the road of Medina while he was in a state of impurity. He slipped away and left to take a bath, then he returned. The Prophet said, “O Abu Huraira, where were you?” He said, “I was in a state of impurity and I disliked to sit with you while I am not pure.” The Prophet said, “Glory be to Allah. Verily, the Muslim is not impure.”

Source: Sahih Bukhari 279, Sahih Muslim 371

Immediately after this, the Imam also quoted another hadith where the wife of the Messenger (SAWS), Ayesha (RAA) is reported to have said that the Messenger (SAWS) would always be doing dhikr of Allah, which the Imam said, implied that the Messenger (SAWS) would even be doing dhikr in the state of janaba.

The Imam was implying that a woman can also read the Qur'an during her menses. Can somebody throw some more light on this, specifically:

1. Can a woman recite the Qur'an from memory during the menses?

2. Can she touch the mushaf while she is in that state and even recite from it?

3. If the answer to (2) above is no, can she read the Qur'an off her smartphone, where she can "turn" the page by touching the screen?

Jazakallahu khairan.

Answer 1

^{Note: This is a highly controversial topic and hence needs to be dealt carefully.}

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First lets answer the easy part.

2. Can she touch the mushaf while she is in that state and even recite from it?

Many scholars unambiguously come to the point based on a hadith which talks about a letter written by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stating.

No one should touch the Qur’aan except one who is taahir (pure).

(Reported by Maalik, 1/199; al-Nisaa’i, 8/57; Ibn Hibbaan, 793; al-Bayhaqi, 1/87) (Source #2)

So, it is highly advisable to not touch the physical Qur'an while impure.

Likewise the deducible part, the 3rd Question.

It is again a little disputed but a general opinion is it is a contemporary issue and those rulings which were applicable on the Physical Qur'an may not apply on a virtual or in other words digital Qur'an. (A little more explanation)

Although some dispute that what ever those Hadith or verses are talking about being pure, they are talking about spiritual purity but need not be psychical purity.

But as a piece of advice it is always better to not touch even the digital Qur'an while impure. (If more doubts regarding this, plz raise another question)

Finally, the most legendary question, "can a woman recite the Qur'an while impure?"

This is one of the most disputable things among the scholars.

Against the allowance is one Hadith which clearly says

Allah's Messenger (SAW) made us recite the Quran in every condition provided one was not sexually defiled.

(Said by none other than Hazrat Ali (RA) here)

"learning" would mean "reciting" too. (Arabic experts plz edit this or remove this if this is correct).

But to counter that, your own Imam provided enough reasoning to allow that and not follow those which aren't implicitly said.

So, I would just repeat the same thing which most of the scholars would say,

A woman can recite Qur'an during menses as there are no Hadith which clearly say 'No'. This would mean either from her memory or without touching the Qur'an but by simply looking at it.

May the creator guide us all.

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_Sources:

_{1. Reading the Qur'an while in menses - Youtube (Sheikh Muhammad Salah)}

_{2. Reading Qur’aan during menses - IslamQA}

Answer 2

1.Can a woman recite the Qur'an from memory during the menses?

Most scholars go with the ruling that nothing is Haram until it is made haram explicitly. Woman during the time of the prophet used to have their periods and the prophet never reportedly disallowed them. There is 1 hadith that those who say it is not allowed reflect upon:

حديث ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : " لا تقرأ الحائض ولا الجنب شيئاً من القرآن " رواه الترمذي (131) وابن ماجه (595) والدارقطني (1/117) والبيهقي (1/89)

Prophet was reported that the women on their period or those who had sexual intercourse to not read the quran.

However, that hadith is weak according to many scholars including Ibn Taima (21/460)

Source (in Arabic): http://islamqa.info/ar/2564

2.Can she touch the mushaf while she is in that state and even recite from it?

The Maliki and Shafai say it is not allowed entirely. The Hanabli and Hanafi say it is ok if there is a separation between the skin and the Quran (ex: gloves). These rulings are both from the following hadith you posted:

No one should touch the Qur’aan except one who is taahir (pure).

However, personally I think that both the hadith and the Quran Ayah reflect the Holy Book with Allah that only Angles have access to and thusly it is allowed as long as your hands are clean. I extract such reasoning from the fact that most of these scholars say that using a smart phone it is allowed opposed to the physical paper.

Source (in Arabic): https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/141022

13.If the answer to (2) above is no, can she read the Qur'an off her smartphone, where she can "turn" the page by touching the screen?

The majority of scholars say that smart phones have different rulings than normal written Quran, since you take smart phones with you everywhere including bathrooms. This means regardless of your state of cleaningless you can read from such devices.

Source (in Arabic): http://islamqa.info/ar/106961