Is it permissible to use medication to delay menstruation (menses)?
Is it permissible to use medication to delay menstruation except for hajj and umrah?
Dear Brother / Sister,
It is permissible to use medication to delay menstruation during hajj, Ramadan or other times. However, if it harms the woman’s health, she will be held responsible.
It is permissible to use pills or other medicines to stop menstruation early or to delay menstruation in order to perform tawaf (circumambulation). (al-Fatawa al-Kubra, II/98)
God Almighty has created women with a different constitution compared to men. Due to some of their inherent characteristics, He has shown them some facilities in worship. A significant part of those facilities is related to prayer and fasting. A woman is not obliged to pray and fast on days that coincide with her menstruation and puerperium. She does not have to make up for the prayers she misses during those days because God Almighty has forgiven her. However, she has to make up for the fasts she missed during Ramadan due to menstruation and puerperium at a later time that she prefers. Believing women take advantage of this Divine license and convenience and perform their deeds of worship accordingly.
Taking precautions to avoid menstruation by taking certain medications so as not to miss fasting especially in Ramadan, to be able to read the Quran and to worship more comfortably, and hence to have a menstruation-free Ramadan is religiously permissible but it is not recommended because some medical and hygienic problems may arise.
This situation is explained medically as follows:
Taking medication is a deviation from what is normal. A woman has her own hormonal and metabolic characteristics. The use of oral hormone pills to bring menstruation forward or delay it is an artificial way and can sometimes, but not always, cause menstrual irregularities. It is not medically recommended because of its harms to the organism. It is better to act according to nature.
There is no need to attempt such a practice in Rajab and Shaban months to delay menstruation. Besides, fasting in those months is nafilah; it is not obligatory. Even if one does not fast, it does not have to be made up later, unlike the fast of Ramadan. On the other hand, there is no need to calculate that Rajab and Shaban will coincide with the days of menstruation and fast those days in Rajab. It is not necessary.
If a woman wants to have a comfortable Ramadan and fast on time, she can use medication to delay menstruation if she wishes. However, it is better for those who have menstrual irregularities or any disorder because of them not to attempt to do so.
(see Mehmed PAKSU, İbâdet Hayatımız-1)
Questions on Islam
- Is it a sin to use pills that delay menstruation so as to perform fasting fully and not to miss any fasting in Ramadan?
- Can women use medication in order to delay menstrual bleeding in Ramadan?
- Frequently Asked Questions on Fasting
- States Peculiar to Women (Menstruation- Puerperium- Excuse)
- Can a woman who is in menstruation perform fasting according to verse 184 of the chapter of al-Baqara?
- Is it permissible for a woman who is in menstruation to fast?
- Can women enter the mosques where Friday prayers are performed and that have pulpits when they are in menstruation?
- For a woman who has made a miscarriage, is there a period of waiting to recover? How should be acted if it is not sure whether the organs of the child were formed?
- Is it a sin not to perform fasting in the month of Ramadan without any excuse? Will it be a sin if i skip Ramadan fasting without any excuse with the intention of fasting in winter? Will fasting performed in winter replace the fasting skipped in Ramadan?
- Are there any evidences for not performing prayers while menstruating?
