"Menstruation is amongst the most difficult topics in the study of fiqh. The magnitude of this knowledge is apparent by the detriment caused by the ignorance of it. Attentiveness to these rulings is vital because of the consequences they have on rulings of purification, prayer, reading the Qur'an, fasting, spiritual retreat, pilgrimage, reaching puberty, marital relations, divorce, waiting period after divorce, and others. Familiarity with these rulings is essential; otherwise, forbidden (haram) acts are done without even realizing it."
—Ustadha Hedaya Hartford
This special course with a recognized expert on women’s fiqh issues will facilitate an introduction to the legal rulings of menstruation and lochia as they pertain to many aspects of your daily life, such as ablution, prayer, fasting, and Hajj. A prerequisite to an upcoming in-depth course on the topic, this introduction will answer a wide variety of common questions, while providing a general understanding of the fiqh of menstruation and lochia according to the Hanafi school. It will also demonstrate the expansiveness of this subject and the importance of further in-depth study.
Other fiqh courses dedicate only one lesson to the basics of this subject, whereas this course examines in-depth how it affects other acts of worship and investigates common situations that may arise. An added plus is that this course is taught by a female who truly understands the subject matter.
The introductory material in this course is based on the great Ottoman scholar Imam Birgivi’s Treatise Dhukhr al-Muta’ahhilin wa al-Nisa’ fi ta’rif al-Athar wa al-Dima’ along with Imam Ibn ‘Abidin’s commentary of it. According to Imam Ibn ‘Abidin, this treatise by Imam Birgivi is the principal reference for menstruation and lochia and their related rulings in the Hanafi school. The treatise and its commentary are taught in more detail in the next-level courses.
Ustadha Hedaya has permission to teach Imam Birgivi’s treatise from Shaykh Muhammad Amin Siraj, a shaykh at the Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih mosque in Istanbul, who wrote that she demonstrated "full comprehension and meticulous understanding" of the text.
The goal of this course is three-fold: to enable you to realize that a more in-depth study of this topic is critical; to clarify any misconceptions you may have based on either culture or hearsay; and to enable you to identify problem cases and know to consult a scholar/knowledgeable person in those situations. The intention of this course is to facilitate an introduction to the legal rulings of menstruation and lochia as they pertain to many aspects of our daily lives. The minimal objective is to give students the ability to recognize a problem and to realize when they must consult a specialist, and not the ability to necessarily solve the problem on their own.
While directly affecting women, it is also important for men to study this topic as well. The material is obligatory for Muslim women to learn, as well as for fathers and guardians in order to raise their children with sound knowledge of the religion. Imam Birgivi wrote that "the jurists have agreed on the obligatoriness of the 'personally obligatory religious knowledge' (ilm al-hal) for all those women and men who believe in Allah and the Day of Judgment. Consequently, the knowledge of the different types of blood pertinent to women is obligatory for women, husbands, and guardians. However in our time, this was forsaken, or worse—it became as though it were nothing. They [the people of the author's time] do not separate between menstruation, lochia, and istihada, and they do not differentiate between the valid and invalid types of blood and tuhr."