Is It Disliked for a Woman to Shave Her Hair during Menstruation?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
I usually shave pubic hair every 14 days, as I don’t want 15 days to elapse. But if I’m on my period, and my habit is 10 days, and I know my habit will continue after the 15th day of shaving where pubic hair being unshaved becomes disliked, should I shave even though it’s disliked to shave on a period?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
No, it is not disliked for a woman to shave her pubic hair during menstruation. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Fatawa Hindiyya]
The reason for this ruling is that the only person mentioned in Hanafi books regarding the dislikedness of shaving one’s hair is a believer in the state of Janaba. [Fatawa Hindya]
As a legal term, the word “janaba” refers to the duty to avoid praying, touching the Quran, reciting it, or entering a mosque as long as one has not performed a ritual bath. As long as one is prevented from doing these things, one is called “junub.” Janaba is reached when there is orgasm or penetration. [Jassas, Ahkam al-Quran]
Thus a menstruating woman is not concerned by the dislikedness of shaving one’s pubic hair because menstruating and being in a state of janaba are two different things.
This is understood through a process called “Mafhum al-Mukhalafa”. It means that, when it comes to the statements of the scholars in their legal works, when they give a ruling about explicit things, the reader is allowed to understand that this ruling doesn’t apply to things that have not been mentioned by the author. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti]
It is not allowed to use “Mafhum al-Mukhalafa” when understanding the Quran and the Hadiths. [Ibid.]
Rulings Regarding Pubic Hairs
It is recommended to shave one’s pubic hair, starting from under the belly button, one time every week. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
The Sunna for a woman is to pluck her pubic hairs. [Ibid.]
The best is to do that on Friday. [Ibid.]
It is not sinful to do it every 15 days. [Ibid.]
It is prohibitively disliked (and thus sinful) to refrain from doing it for more than 40 days.
Anass Ibn Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) has said: “It has been forbidden to us to leave cutting our nails, reducing our mustache, and plucking our armpits for more than forty nights.” [Muslim]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then, he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
