Do you have a problem with maintaining your spirituality during your menstrual cycle? A lot of Muslim women are familiar with the eeman dip that comes with being on your cycle, and with this dip comes the dilemma of if and how to read the Qur’an.
Because this is a period that you are not observing salah or reading from the mus’haf (hard copy) of the Qur’an, it is very easy to find yourself somewhat disconnected from worship.
But the fact that a woman cannot hold a hard copy of the Qur’an (according to some scholars in Islam) does not mean that she should stop listening to, or reading the holy Qur’an. In fact, this is the time that she should be able to enjoy the words of Allah (swt) through other methods shared below.
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Listen to Qur’anic Recitation
Scholars disagree on the permissibility of a woman holding the Qur’an while she is on her cycle. But there are generally few objections to reciting or listening to the Qur’an through a method apart from using the hard copy of the Qur’an..
In this sense, you can take advantage of this time to listen to more recitation than you would normally do during the rest of the month, by using mobile applications that have audio and text copies of the Qur’an. This helps you maintain your connection with the Qur’an, and ultimately your level of eeman before your began your cycle.
Listening to the recitation gives you that feeling like you are still reading, and with Qur’anic mobile applications that you can put on any of your devices, you can listen to the holy Qur’an anytime, anywhere, and as much as you want.
Improve Your Memorization
For women on a journey of memorizing the Qur’an, your cycle is also a good time to focus on your study. Instead of observing salah (which you can’t), use the time of salah for memorization.
The benefit of this is two-fold- you are intensifying your memorization efforts, and also preserving your salah times with something that is connected with worship. Because a lot of women can relate with the fact that when you stop observing salah for a few days, it can become challenging to find your rhythm again.
If you have already memorized the holy Qur’an, your menstrual period can be used as a catch up time for you. Set a goal for yourself to see how much of the memorized verses you still remember and recite so that you can keep your memory fresh.
The sweetness of reciting the holy Qur’an has been so perfectly put by the holy Prophet(saw) when he said that “A believer who recites the Qur’an is like an orange whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is sweet; a believer who does not recite the Qur’an is like a date which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste; and the hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like a basil whose fragrance is sweet, but whose taste is bitter; and a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur’an is like the colocynth which has no fragrance and has a bitter taste.” (Sahih Muslim)
Increase Your Supplications
Abu Hurairah narrated that:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There are two statements that are light on the tongue, heavy on the Scale, and beloved to Ar-Raḥmān: “Glory is to Allah and the praise; Glory is to Allah, the Magnificent. (Subḥān Allāhi wa biḥamdih, Subḥān Allāhil-Aẓīm)” Jami’a at-Tirmidhi
The time of your menstrual cycle is also a time to increase your voluntary supplications. A lot of the supplications that we recite daily happen to be verses of the Qur’an, and they can form a way for you to maintain your bond with the holy Qur’an, even when you are on your period.
There are countless opportunities in a day to supplicate – when in commute, eating, doing chores, relaxing, etc. Any time of the day can be utilized to supplicate to Allah, and as most people can testify, the more supplications that you do in a day, the more that your heart feels connected to Allah (swt).
With every supplication that you make, it is also as if you are reciting the holy Qur’an. Especially if you are reciting supplications that are written in the Qur’an.
So whenever you are on your cycle, seek to maintain your connection with the Qur’an through different supplications to Allah (swt).
As Muslim women, we should know that not being able to hold and recite from a mus’haf does not mean that we should abandon the Qur’an. It should also not be a reason for us to fall into despair because we are unable to worship like everyone else.
We should rather engage ourselves in other methods that will allow us to maintain our recitation of the holy Qur’an so that when we eventually get off our periods, we are even better off spiritually than we were before the cycle.
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