Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- As for the menstruation, a woman having her period can assume ihram like anyone else after performing ghusl (complete bath). She can then proceed to perform all the rites of Hajj except tawaf and Prayer. As for tawaf, she should put it off until she has finished her period and has purified herself through ghusl.
2- As for the bladder problem, again, she is excused so long as she purifies herself and performs wudu (ablution) as close to the Prayer or tawaf she is performing. As far as the other rites of Hajj or Umrah are concerned, it should be pointed out that wudu is not an essential condition for their validity.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
As Islam is a religion that is primarily based on ease and comfort rather than hardship and inconvenience, you do not need to worry about the validity of your Hajj so long as you have done your best to do what you can, given your specific circumstances.
Allah, the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate, says: {Allah does not charge a soul with more than it can bear” (Al-Baqarah 2:286); and “He has not laid upon you in religion any hardship.} (Al-Hajj 22:77)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “This religion is simple and easy to follow; whoever makes it hard will only defeat himself.”
As for the menstruation, a woman having her period can assume ihram like anyone else after performing ghusl (complete bath). She can then proceed to perform all the rites of Hajj except Tawaf and salah (ritual Prayer). As for Tawaf, she should put it off until she has finished her period and has purified herself through ghusl.
If, however, she is unable to wait in Makkah because of the specific circumstances pertaining to her travel arrangements—as would be the case if she were traveling in a group and the group is scheduled to leave before her period ends—in this case, she is allowed to perform tawaf while still menstruating. Because she is left with no other choice, her Hajj is valid; this is the ruling of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah.
She is allowed to act on this ruling, given her exceptional condition, as it is in perfect harmony with the wisdom and rationale of the Shari`ah, which duly takes into account the hardship of people.
As for the bladder problem, again, she is excused so long as she purifies herself and performs wudu (ablution) as close to the Prayer or tawaf she is performing. As far as the other rites of Hajj or Umrah are concerned, it should be pointed out that wudu is not an essential condition for their validity.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.