Islamic Sharia rules (‘Ahkam’) on puberty:
In Islamic Sharia, the menstrual bleeding is called ‘ḥaiḍ’ and the female who is period is called ‘ha’eedh’. In the view of Islam, menstruation has the following characteristics:
- The duration of bleeding should not be less than 3 days.
- Bleeding persists for the first 3 days.
- The interval between the two menstruations should be at least 10 days.
- The menstruating woman should not be aged under 9 or over 50 years old.
You should know that when you are menstruating, you are exempt from fasting during the Ramadan. Compensating (called ‘Qadha’) the daily prayers that are not performed during this period is not obligatory, but fasting must be compensated later. After the bleeding is over, you should take a ritual bath (called ‘Ghusl’) to begin worship and prayers. There are two methods of performing ‘Ghusl’:
- ‘Ghusl tartibi’: means an ordinal bath, performed in three stages. After making a ‘Niyyat’ (stating your intention), the body has to be washed in three stages: head down to the neck; then the right side of the body, then the left side of the body.
- ‘Ghusl irtimasi’: means a bath involving immersion of the whole body in a body of water such as a pool, etc.
When you are menstruating, you should avoid doing certain things, such as touching the Quran or the names of God and the holy prophets and the Imams by your fingers or other body organs, and you should avoid reciting the four Surahs of the Qur'an that require prostration to God upon listening (Fussilat, Sajdah, Alaq and Najm). You are also forbidden to enter the two holy mosques of Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina). During this period, you must not stop in mosques, though you may only enter them from one door and leave from another door.