Asking a Muslim gynaecologist about menstruation and Islam

Interview with with Dr. Haifaa Younis

Disclaimer: These interviews were originally published in May 2021.

We sat down with Dr Haifaa Younis, an OBGYN and religious scholar, to speak about how menstruation is written within Islam.

Ricebox Studio: Is there anything that your Islamic study has helped you understand better about being an OBGYN and gynecology?

Dr Haifaa Younis: Everything. You start practicing differently, start looking at your patients differently, how you treat diseases and your expectation from treatment – the more you study Islam the more compassionate you are.

RS: How is menstruation written about within Islam?

Dr H.F: Amazingly, it’s in the religious book and is mentioned in the second chapter, Surah Bukrah, in the Quran. The Prophet’s (pbuh) companions ask him, “what is this menstruation?” The word menstruation in Arabic is “adha” which is pain, discomfort, it’s something they don’t like. So absolutely, it is mentioned in the Quran and in the Sunnah [the way or the path of the Prophet (pbuh)] too.

RS: What activities are women exempt or forbidden from during their period?

Dr H.F: So the first thing is, they should not pray or fast during their period. If they are menstruating during the time of Hajj (pilgrimage) they can do everything except ‘tawaf’, which is when you circumambulate the Kaaba. She is not allowed to touch the Quran, unless she wears a glove, or (there is) a barrier. To read the Quran, there are some exceptions like if she’s memorising the Quran and is worried she might forget. Or if she is a teacher and she has to teach. And then in private life, intimate relations with the husband is absolutely not allowed.

RS: How does menstruation come into play with being a religious scholar? How do you overcome these restrictions and in these moments of abstaining from being religious?

Dr H.F: The beauty of Islam is, the act of worship in Islam is not linear and if I cannot do this in a certain way, that means I’m less, or I am disconnected. No, the acts of worship of Islam are external and internal (in the heart). There is a long list of things I can say, read or do and I’m still connected [to Allah]. It’s just that the action [praying], I am not allowed to do. So the connection with Allah, it doesn’t stop during the menstruation. The way we connect changes.

RS: What would you say to women who feel impure physically and spiritually during their period?

Dr H.F: I don’t use the word impure because there’s a hadith (story) of the Prophet where he says “The believer is never impure”. So I always use the term ‘in a state of menstruation’. You need to change the mindset that ‘I am impure, that I am different, No, I am not.’

In Arabic, the word used is ‘Tahāra’. I don’t think there’s a better way to translate it other than ‘impure’. But the implications of ‘impure’ in English are very different than the word in Arabic. That’s where the confusion comes in. You are always pure. You are Islamically in a state of impurity because you cannot pray and you can not fast. That’s it. But you are pure.

RS: What would you say to women who feel ashamed of menstrual leakage in religious settings (holidays, when praying, in a mosque…)?

Dr H.F: I would say to them “Allah decrees and whatever Allah decrees will happen”. Secondly, it is the same as if someone leaked urine – they have a full bladder, there isn’t a bathroom close by. What do you say? Okay! It’s not a big thing. But it is uncomfortable because you feel something coming out. So I would say, don’t look down on yourself, you’ve taken precautions but these things happen. I would go and change, take it easy, and in the future, take more precautions – that’s it.

RS: Do you think Islamically there’s a responsibility to teach children about menstruation?

Dr H.F: Something I would say to all my beautiful Muslim sisters is that this [menstrual education] is something that they have to learn and they [children] need to learn. Every Muslim woman and girl, mother and daughter needs to learn this subject because it is related to your relationship as a believer with your creator. Some scholars will teach you this is a compulsory knowledge of every woman. Even after menopause, a woman needs to know because if she’s 57 or 58 and she sees blood, what is this blood? Is this menstruation or not? Can she pray or fast during Ramadan? Can she and her husband have intercourse? So this is a subject that every Muslim woman needs to learn because it’s involved in every step of her life and her relationship with her creator.

RS: Would you say the interpretations of menstruation within the Quran are positive or neutral?

Dr H.F: I’m speaking as a physician now – when a woman comes to me and says “I have severe pain in my period, I can’t go to work. I feel nauseous. I am emotional. To me, anything makes me cry. Anything makes me tense.” My answer is “That’s how it is. That’s what Allah said it’s like in the Quran!” The way I look at it, anything written in the Quran, is something I need to learn about – you shouldn’t hide it.

Secondly, Allah has written it in its exact way – menstruation is something that can bring discomfort and pain. It is very sympathetic to the woman. Allah is saying give her space – this can be the time of the month where she is not her normal self. So it looks at it very positively, Alhumdullilah (Praise be to God).

RS: From a gynecologist’s point of view, is menstruation clean?

Dr H.F: From a gynecologist’s point of view, what is menstruation? It is the lining of the uterus. Its blood and tissues. And then when the hormones change in the body and no pregnancy happens, the hormone decreases and lining of the uterus starts shedding. How can it be impure? It is just the lining of the uterus.