This question has been asked to `A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her. Mu`adhah asked her, “What is the reason that a menstruating woman completes the fasts (that she abandons during her monthly course), but she does not complete the prayers?” She (lady `A’ishah) said: Are you a Haruriya? I said: I am not a Haruriya, but I simply want to inquire. She said: We passed through this (period of menstruation), and we were ordered to complete the fasts, but were not ordered to complete the prayers.

 

The word Hururiyah refers to a village which was inhibited by the Kharijites; a deviant sect whose followers showed extremism in their adherence to Islam. `A’ishah wished to show this woman that it is not necessary to know the reason behind each divine command. Some scholars maintained that the reason why Allah commanded a woman to make up whatever she missed of fasting while he did not command her to do so with regard to prayers is to facilitate His worship and not to lay a hardship in practicing Islam. Prayers are repeated five times a day while fasting consists of only thirty days a year. A woman mostly misses from 35 to 20 obligatory prayers during her menses. This may cause her an extreme difficulty in making up all those days. The matter is different with regard to fasting, where a woman misses from four to seven days only during the whole year.

Allah knows best.