Tayammum, menstruation and post-natal bleeding

Tayammum Allah has provided a solution when water is lacking: "…and you find no water, then turn to clean earth: wipe your faces and your hands with it" (meaning of part of verses 4:43 and 5:6). Listen to verse 4:43 in the recitation block. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification" (Bukhari 335, Muslim 521).

When is it done? • When you cannot find water after reasonably looking for it, or it is too far away. • When water would cause harm: illness, injury, dangerous cold with no way of heating it (medical advice). • When the water available is only just enough to drink. Tayammum replaces wudu and also ghusl.

How to do it (from the hadith of 'Ammaar, Bukhari 338, Muslim 368) 1. The intention, then "bismillaah". 2. Strike clean ground (earth, sand, stone) lightly with the palms. 3. Blow on the hands if there is too much dust. 4. Wipe the hands over the whole face. 5. Wipe each hand over the back of the other, up to the wrists. A single strike and up to the wrists for the Hanbalis; two strikes and up to the elbows for the Hanafis and Shafi'is; the Malikis take an intermediate position. What counts as "clean ground" (soil only, or any surface of the earth) [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche].

What breaks it Everything that breaks wudu, and finding water (or being able to use it again). For some schools, a new tayammum is made for each obligatory prayer; for others, it lasts like wudu [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche]. Someone who prayed with tayammum and then finds water after the prayer does not repeat it (Abu Dawud 338) [À VÉRIFIER : numéro].

Menstruation (ḥayḍ) and post-natal bleeding (nifaas): the essentials for prayer [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche] This section is deliberately brief: the centre's imam and, where possible, a female teacher answer more specific questions, in complete discretion. • During menstruation and post-natal bleeding, a woman does not pray or fast. The prayers are not made up; the days of Ramadan fasting are. 'Aa'isha said: "We were ordered to make up the fast, and not ordered to make up the prayer" (Muslim 335). • This is neither a fault nor a lesser worth: it is a dispensation willed by Allah. A woman keeps her link with Him through dhikr, supplication, listening to the Qur'an. The Prophet ﷺ would lean on 'Aa'isha and recite the Qur'an while she was menstruating (Bukhari 297, Muslim 301). • Reciting the Qur'an from memory, touching the mushaf, entering the mosque during menstruation: the views differ [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche]. • At the end of menstruation or post-natal bleeding, she makes ghusl and resumes prayer. If the bleeding stops before the end of a prayer's time, she makes that prayer; the details (and the previous prayer that can be combined with it) [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche]. • The durations (minimum and maximum of menstruation, at most forty days of post-natal bleeding for the majority: Abu Dawud 311, Tirmidhi 139 [À VÉRIFIER : numéros]) [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche]. • Bleeding outside the period (istiḥaaḍa) does not prevent prayer: the woman makes wudu for each prayer and prays (Bukhari 228, Muslim 333). • Intimate relations are forbidden during menstruation and post-natal bleeding, until purification (meaning of verse 2:222); tenderness and shared life are not.

Exercise: find a clean stone or a patch of earth near your home and go through the actions of tayammum once, so you know them on the day you need them (travelling, in hospital).

Understanding the lesson

Explanation Tayammum shows the spirit of Islamic law: prayer never lapses, but the way of preparing for it adapts to the situation. Allah says, at the end of the verse of wudu: "Allah does not wish to place hardship on you, but He wishes to purify you and complete His favour upon you" (meaning of part of verse 5:6). Tayammum is not a "half purification": it is the purification Allah wants in that case. It was revealed during a journey when the companions had no water, while they were searching for a necklace lost by 'Aa'isha (Bukhari 334, Muslim 367): a hardship became an ease for the whole community. For menstruation and post-natal bleeding, the same logic applies: a woman is exempted from prayer, without making it up, out of mercy. It is not exclusion: her faith, her supplications, her dhikr and her kindness still count. Intimate questions are asked without shame, preferably to a trusted, trained person (the imam, a female teacher). Common mistakes: making tayammum when water is easily available; thinking that the prayers of the days of menstruation must be made up; continuing not to pray after menstruation ends while waiting for "the right moment" for ghusl; confusing menstruation and istiḥaaḍa. Points where the schools differ: one or two strikes, up to the wrists or the elbows; what counts as "clean ground"; one tayammum per prayer or not; the durations of menstruation and post-natal bleeding; recitation, the mushaf and the mosque during menstruation; which prayer to make up when bleeding stops within a prayer's time [À VÉRIFIER : les écoles diffèrent, l'imam tranche].

Lessons to draw from it • Know tayammum before you need it. • Never let a prayer pass for lack of water: there is always a solution. • For sisters: noting the start and end dates of the period helps to know when to resume prayer. • Ask intimate questions to a trusted person, without embarrassment.

Key points to remember • Tayammum: intention, strike the ground, wipe the face then the hands (Bukhari 338, Muslim 368). • It replaces wudu and ghusl; it is broken like wudu and when water is found. • Menstruation and post-natal bleeding: no prayer, prayers not made up; the fast is made up (Muslim 335). • End of the period: ghusl, then resume prayer.

The main message Allah does not want hardship for His servants: when water is lacking, the earth purifies; when the body goes through its cycles, the dispensation is a mercy, and the link with Allah remains.