She did not know that if the menstruating woman becomes pure before Fajr she has to pray Maghrib and ‘Isha’
Question I read recently that a woman must pray the previous prayer to the time of when her period stopped, or join two prayers. I did not know this before and I am 38 years old now. Praise be to Allah. If a menstruating woman becomes pure after the time for ‘Isha’ begins, then she…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
If a menstruating woman
becomes pure after the time for ‘Isha’ begins, then she has to pray ‘Isha’
because she was pure during that time. She also has to pray Maghrib because
it may be joined to ‘Isha’ if there is an excuse.
Similarly, if she becomes
pure after the time for ‘Asr begins, she has to pray Zuhr and ‘Asr. This is
what was stated in fatwas by some of the companions of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it is the view of the
majority of scholars.
But if she becomes pure
after the time for Fajr, Zuhr or Maghrib begins, she only has to offer one
prayer, namely the prayer at the time of which she became pure (Fajr or Zuhr
or Maghrib), because these prayers cannot be joined to anything that comes
before them.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (1/238): If the menstruating
woman becomes pure before the sun sets, she should pray Zuhr then ‘Asr.
If she becomes pure before
dawn breaks, she should pray Maghrib and ‘Isha’. This opinion was narrated
from ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Tawoos, Mujaahid, al-Nakha’i,
al-Zuhri, Rabee’ah, Maalik, al-Layth, al-Shaafa’i, Ishaaq and Abu Thawr.
Imam Ahmad said: Most of the Taabi’een were of this view, except al-Hasan
who said that she only has to offer the prayer at the time of which she
became pure. This was the view of al-Thawri and ashaab al-ra’y.
Ibn al-Mundhir narrated
that ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas thought that the
menstruating woman who becomes pure one-rak’ah before dawn should pray
Maghrib and ‘Isha’, and if she becomes pure before the sun sets, she should
pray Zuhr and ‘Asr together.
Because the time for the
second prayer is the time for the first at the time when the excuse is
applicable, so when the one who had an excuse no longer has an excuse, then
he must offer the obligatory prayer, and he must offer the obligatory prayer
for the second prayer too.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may
Allaah have mercy on him) favoured the view that she only has to offer the
prayer the time of which she caught up with, and she does not have to join
to it the prayer that came before it.
In order to be on the safe
side, you should follow the view of the majority of scholars and offer the
two prayers together. But if a woman offers only the prayer the time of
which she caught up with, we hope that there is no sin on her. If a woman
did not do that in the past because she was unaware of the ruling, she does
not have to do anything, because of the general meaning of the evidence that
the one who is ignorant and the one who makes a mistake are excused, and
because the issue is one where there is a difference of scholarly opinion,
as stated above.
See also the answer to
question no. 45648.
And Allaah knows best.
