Menstruation Rulings: Divine or Human Origin?

Is it not a universal truth that a falsehood is recognized by its contradictions? Let us observe the contradictions within the commands of Allah.

First Command: A menstruating woman is impure and cannot sit in any mosque.

Second Command: However, a menstruating woman may sit in the Masjid al-Haram (the holiest mosque) and perform Hajj rituals, which include kissing the Black Stone (Hajr-e-Aswad) embedded in the wall of the Kaaba and touching the Rukn-e-Yamani.

Do you see these contradictions in Islam? Our argument is that these inconsistencies cannot belong to a "Perfect" Divine God. They are the creation of a human mind, specifically the mind of Muhammad. On one hand, he was imposing restrictions on women due to the influence of ancient religions, especially Judaism. On the other hand, he became helpless before the complexities of practical life and was "forced" to grant "concessions," which appeared in the form of contradictions.

According to Islam:

1. A menstruating woman is physically impure. Therefore, such an impure woman cannot sit in a mosque or even enter the prayer area of an Eidgah. (Source: Sunan Abi Dawud, 1137 – Grade: Sahih)

2. It is claimed that menstruation doesn't just affect the body, but the soul as well. Due to this "spiritual impurity," a woman cannot pray, fast, or recite the Quran, because doing so would "pollute" these sacred acts.

Imitating Judaism: Evidence of Human Origin

In Mecca, Muslims dealt with pagans who had no specific religious restrictions regarding menstruation. When Muhammad migrated to Medina, he encountered the Jewish community. In the early Medinan period, Muhammad tried to emulate Jewish practices in several matters, such as the initial Qibla facing Jerusalem and the Fast of Ashura.

In Jewish Law (Torah), a menstruating woman was declared physically and spiritually impure. When Muslims observed this Jewish conduct, they asked what they should do. In this context, Verse 222 of Surah Al-Baqarah was revealed: "They ask you about menstruation. Say, it is an impurity/discomfort, so keep away from women during menstruation..." [Note: According to Muslim scholars, Surah al-Baqarah was revealed during the very early Medinan period when Muhammad was adopting many Jewish practices]

If these commands were part of a pre-existing Divine scheme, women were present in Mecca for 13 years and they menstruated there too, yet this "issue" never arose. Why?

Please think about this point again:

• Did Allah only discover the "impurity" of menstruation after reaching Medina?
• During the 13 years in Mecca, women prayed, went near the Kaaba, touched it, kissed it, and performed Tawaf. Why didn't "impurity" stand in the way then?

This proves that these rules were not divine but were human reactions influenced by the environment. Seeing the Jews of Medina, Muhammad turned a non-issue into a crisis for women, making their lives difficult, and spent the rest of his life managing the resulting contradictions.

Contradiction: Masjid al-Haram vs. General Mosques

Early in Medina, Muhammad commanded that menstruation is an impurity and women cannot enter mosques or even the Eidgah. (Source: Sunan Abi Dawud, 1137 – Grade: Sahih)

However, late in the Medinan period, when Muhammad went to Mecca for Hajj with Aisha, a problem arose. Aisha began her menses before Hajj and started crying and complaining. To resolve this situation, new commands were issued in the name of "revelation":

• Aisha could wear the Ihram while in this state.
• She could enter the Masjid al-Haram, even though it is the most sacred mosque in the universe.
• She could perform the Sa’i between Safa and Marwa, pelt the devils (Rami), stay at Arafat, and recite the Talbiyah and other Dhikr (remembrances).
• She could touch the walls of the Kaaba, kiss the Black Stone and the Rukn-e-Yamani, and stand at Maqam-e-Ibrahim. In short, she could perform all Hajj rituals except the Tawaf.

(Source: Sahih Bukhari 305 and 1650)

The questions are:

• If the sanctity of the world’s most superior mosque (Masjid al-Haram) and the Black Stone is not affected by a woman's menstruation, why would a local mosque be desecrated?
• If kissing the Black Stone is not "impurity," why is sitting in a corner of a mosque a sin?

Aisha’s experience during Hajj is a clear example of how these laws followed "events." When practical needs arose and a wife’s distress became an issue, contradictory commands were issued to solve the immediate problem. This is the method of a human leader adjusting rules for the peace of his close companions, not the sign of a Divine God.

Contradiction: Talbiyah vs. Quranic Recitation

Observe the details of "spiritual impurity" on fatwa websites:

• A menstruating woman cannot touch the Quran.
• She cannot recite Quranic verses orally.
• If girls or female teachers in Madrasas start their period, they must stop teaching or learning the Quran.

Yet, here is the contradiction that the same woman forbidden from reciting the Word of God is fully permitted to loudly chant the Talbiyah (Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk). If it is permissible to praise God with an "impure" tongue, why does reciting God’s Word with that same tongue become a sin? Prayer and the Quran are also forms of Dhikr, yet they are forbidden. Why is the Talbiyah an exception? This is a flaw of a human system, not a divine one.

Contradiction: Is a Building More Sacred Than the Prophet’s Body?

A study of the Hadiths reveals the following:

• Sahih Bukhari (Hadith 300 and 302): Muhammad would ask his menstruating wives to wrap a cloth (Izar) and would then have physical intimacy with them short of intercourse. Aisha would wash Muhammad’s head while he was in I'tikaf (seclusion in the mosque) even while she was menstruating.
• Sahih Bukhari (Hadith 297): Aisha narrates that Muhammad would lean his head in her lap and recite the Quran while she was menstruating.

Do you see the contradiction? On one hand, Muhammad declares a menstruating woman so physically impure that her feet touching the floor of a mosque supposedly violates its sanctity. On the other hand, Muhammad allows his own body to touch hers. Is a mosque made of bricks and mortar more sacred than the body of a Prophet? If an Izar (cloth) was enough to prevent blood from touching the Prophet, why couldn't the same clothing make a woman "pure" enough to enter a mosque? This proves the ban was not about "impurity" but was a result of human confusion.

The Contradiction: Why is the sanctity of a home’s prayer area not "violated" by a woman’s menstruation?

There is an Islamic belief that "The entire earth has been made a place of prostration (masjid) for you." However, as soon as it concerns a menstruating woman, the definition of sanctity suddenly shifts.

Muslims often designate a specific area within their homes for prayer, where the forehead is placed upon the ground five times a day. If sanctity is truly derived from worship and prostration, then that space should be considered just as sacred as a formal mosque. Yet, observe the blatant contradiction:

• In the home, a menstruating woman can sit, lie down, and even sleep in the very spot where prayers are offered. Her presence there does not "violate" any sanctity.

• However, the moment that same woman steps into the precincts of a mosque or an Eidgah (prayer ground), their sanctity is supposedly desecrated.

Reflect for a moment. Do you see any consistency or wisdom in these conflicting mandates? If there truly were an "Allah" in the heavens, a woman’s natural menstrual cycle would have been an entirely non-issue from the very start.

Hiding Humiliation Under the Guise of "Ease and Rest"

Muslim apologists argue that Islam provides exemptions for menstruating women to give them "ease" and "rest." This argument is a complete falsehood for the following reasons:

• Islam does not grant a full exemption from prayer to a severely ill, elderly, or wounded person. If they cannot stand, they must pray sitting, and if they cannot sit, they pray lying down. If "ease" was the goal, the person struggling between life and death would be the first to get a holiday from worship.
• Conversely, a menstruating woman who is performing all her household chores and is mentally active is stopped in the name of "rest."

The truth is that what apologists call a "concession" is actually a prohibition. If it were about ease, she would be given the choice to pray or rest. Instead, she is forcibly prohibited because, in religious logic, she has become "spiritually impure." Muhammad did not grant a concession for her comfort, but he believed she was physically and spiritually unclean, and the prohibition was solely to prevent "impurity" from polluting religious worship.

Consider this, if women consistently observed their prayers during menstruation for thirteen years in Makkah without any difficulty, how could menstruation suddenly transform into such a severe physical crisis in Madinah that it rendered them physically unfit for worship?

Hear the greatest proof from Muhammad himself:

• Sahih Bukhari (Hadith 304): Muhammad tells women they are "deficient in intelligence and religion." When asked why, he cited the half-witness testimony as a deficiency in intelligence and the inability to pray or fast during menstruation as a deficiency in religion.

This exposes the reality. Apologists call it "ease," while Muhammad calls it a "deficiency." A concession is a favour, but a deficiency is a flaw. This is not ease, but it is a degradation of women.

Contradiction: Is "Sa'i" Harder for a Menstruating Woman, or "Praying"?

On one hand, Islam prohibits women from praying during menstruation in the name of providing "ease." Yet, on the other hand, it subjects them to the rigorous hardships of "Sa'i" سعي and "The Day of Arafah" وقفة عرفات during that same period.

The seven circuits of Sa'i alone cover 3.5 kilometers. However, if you calculate the total distance, leaving the hotel, entering the Masjid, reaching Safa, and returning to the accommodation from Marwah after finishing, then it amounts to nearly 10 kilometers of walking in a single day.

During menstruation, a woman’s body becomes extremely sensitive to touch and pressure. Yet, the Hajj crowd is a literal "ocean of humanity" where intense pushing and shoving are common. In such a state, where a woman is already suffering from abdominal and back pain, forcing her to walk miles in this crushing crowd while claiming, "We exempted her from a 5-minute prayer out of mercy," seems like nothing more than a "cruel joke."

If a menstruating woman can:

• Walk 10 kilometers.

• Endure the violent pushing and shoving of a crowd of millions.

• Stand under the pressure of the masses on the peaks of Safa and Marwah to offer long supplications.

...then why can she not stand on a peaceful prayer mat for just 5 minutes to offer Salah?

Furthermore, The Day of Arafat is the most vital and fundamental pillar of Hajj, about which Muhammad said: "Hajj is Arafat." Physically, psychologically, and environmentally, this ritual is so grueling that the exertion of a five-minute prayer does not even amount to one percent of it.

The stay at Arafat lasts from noon on the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah until sunset. This means a pilgrim must spend at least 6 to 7 hours in an open plain, mostly standing or sitting while making continuous supplications.

Imagine the open plain of Arafat and the scorching heat of Makkah, which often exceeds 45°C. This time must be spent directly under the sun, often in a state where nothing is permitted to shade the head (according to traditional rites).

Just think if this is more difficult for a menstruating woman, or a 5-minute prayer?

Another Injustice of the Male Human Mentality: A Heavy Financial Penalty for Menstruation

Consider another injustice of Islamic rulings toward women.

A woman travels from a distant land to perform Hajj. She begins menstruating along the way. According to Islamic ruling, she may enter Masjid al-Haram in that state, perform the sa'i, stand at Arafat, but she may not perform the tawaf around the Kaaba. Now if she is forced to return home urgently and cannot wait for her menstruation to end, she may perform the tawaf in that state of impurity, but she must sacrifice an entire cow or a whole camel as expiation (badanah).

See this fatwa for the details on menstruation and the badanah sacrifice.

But expiation is logically required when someone deliberately breaks a law. Menstruation is not within a woman's control. She cannot stop it, nor can she time it. So why is expiation imposed for this natural compulsion?

The penalty is not light either. An ordinary sacrifice requires only a small sheep, or seven people may share a single cow or camel. But here, the woman alone must sacrifice an entire cow or an entire camel, solely because she menstruated. Does this look to you like "divine justice"?

If you find this Hanafi ruling unjust and cruel, consider something worse. According to the other three major jurists, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Malik, and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, if a woman's menstruation does not end, she must stay in Mecca regardless, even if her entire group or her flight has already departed, until she performs the tawaf al-ziyarah herself. No badanah or any other sacrifice will be accepted in its place, and she will not be released from this obligation until she performs the tawaf in person.

Is There Really an All-Knowing God Above?

For the past fourteen centuries, hundreds of millions of Muslim women have carried the psychological burden of believing that menstruation has made them impure.

That burden, already painful, was made worse still by Muslim jurists who began issuing contradictory fatwas such as the following:

• One jurist says a menstruating woman may touch the Quran with gloves. Another says she may not touch it even with gloves.
• One says she may recite the Quran without any problem. Another says she may not read a single word. A third then emerges to say a few verses are fine. One says girls memorizing the Quran and their teachers must stop during menstruation. Another says there is no problem at all.
• One says that if tawaf was missed because of menstruation, a badanah must be sacrificed. Another says she must stay behind even if that means being separated from her group, which is possibly an even greater financial burden than the badanah.

Reference: These contradictory fatwas can be read here.

Because of all these contradictory rulings, women are once again being ground down, left confused, conflicted, and financially damaged.

These contradictions among jurists are not their fault. The fault lies with the divine God Himself, who apparently could not even reveal coherent laws that would make His commands clear to ordinary people and spare them this centuries-long confusion and distress.

The foundational Muslim belief is that God is "Aleem and Khabeer," that He possesses complete knowledge of past, present, and future. If that claim is true, a serious question arises. Could God not foresee that His community would be paralyzed by fierce disagreements over this one issue for centuries?

If God knew in advance that His community would fall into enormous conflict over this matter, why did He not reveal a single clear and unambiguous verse in the Quran? For example, one plain verse could have settled everything.

• (If prohibition was intended) A menstruating woman may not recite even one verse of the Quran or touch it by any means.
• (If permission was intended) A menstruating woman may both recite the Quran and touch it.

A single clear verse would have ended centuries of ambiguity and confusion and given hundreds of millions of women peace of mind.

The Quran is a very long book, one that God filled with declarations of His own greatness and power, some ancient stories and parables, and extensive threats of eternal punishment directed at non-believers. Yet when the time came to make life genuinely easier for human beings, not a single clear verse appeared.

This silence proves that no divine being stood behind these rulings, one capable of foreseeing future challenges. It is evidence of the "human limitation" of someone making decisions suited to the circumstances of his own time, someone not "perfect" enough to anticipate the contradictions that would surface centuries later and address them in advance.

Analysis of Muslim Scholars’ Counter-Arguments:

When Muslim scholars are asked about all these points, the summary of their responses is usually as follows:

“They say it is the wisdom of Allah which we cannot fully understand. They repeatedly emphasize that the prohibition of certain acts of worship during menstruation is a concession given to women to reduce their burden. The apparent contradictions during Hajj are actually special exemptions that demonstrate the flexibility of the religion. As for the hadith about deficiency in religion, it only means fewer religious responsibilities (such as missing prayers and fasts), not any inferiority in the woman herself,” and so on.

However, the arguments presented by Muslim scholars appear quite weak and unconvincing. For example, if there truly was a false prophet who, influenced by the religious traditions of his region, introduced rulings on women’s menstruation that turned a natural non-issue into a crisis for women, and later resolved the resulting contradictions by issuing further contradictory commands during Hajj, or made certain things permissible in the name of “concession” to fulfill his personal or sexual needs, and filled a long book like the Quran with praises of God while leaving these rulings unclear, rulings that later created immense problems and burdens for hundreds of millions of women across centuries, then using the same excuses offered by Muslim scholars, even such a false prophet could be defended against every criticism.

If the answer to every contradiction is simply “Allah’s wisdom,” which human reason cannot comprehend, then no rational standard remains to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

The Core Challenge: The Absence of Divine Perfection

There is another aspect of this debate that religious circles completely ignore. We presented this very point at the beginning of this article as the "Core Challenge."

God does not appear before us, nor do His angels manifest themselves, and He performs no miracles today. Despite this, we are still demanded to recognize Him by finding "perfection" within His commands.

Therefore, the real challenge for the religious community was to prove that these menstruation laws possess such extraordinary divine wisdom that they transcend human understanding. They needed to demonstrate a level of perfection that would compel us to accept that a "Hidden God" truly exists behind them.

However, the reality is quite the opposite. Religious apologists spend all their energy merely denying our arguments and making excuses to show that these commands are human in nature. While they take a defensive stance to explain why a command is not "wrong," they are unable to explain what divine perfection exists within that command that would justify believing it is heavenly.

When these commands contain no scientific miracle, no unique moral superiority, and no clarity that could have saved hundreds of millions of women from centuries of confusion, on what basis does the claim stand that this is the word of an All-Knowing and All-Aware being? The truth is that while the religious class looks for flaws in our arguments regarding the "human color" of these laws, they are unable to provide a single solid proof of their "divine origin."