Allah(swt) says: "These are the limits (set by) Allah, and whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be admitted to gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise), to abide therein, and that will be the great success. And, whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits He will cast him in the Fire, to abide therein; and he shall have a disgraceful torment." [Surat An-Nisa (4): 13-14]
Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "Umar used to bring me into the gatherings with the old men of (the battle of) Badr. However, it was as if one of them felt something in himself (against my attending). So he said, `Why do you (`Umar) bring this (youth) to sit with us when we have children like him (i.e., his age)' So `Umar replied, `Verily, he is among those whom you know. Then one day he called them and invited me to sit with them, and I do not think that he invited me to be among them that day except to show them. So he said, `What do you say about Allah's statement,
[إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ ]
(When there comes the help of Allah and the Conquest.)' Some of them said, `We were commanded to praise Allah and seek His forgiveness when He helps us and gives us victory.' Some of them remained silent and did not say anything. Then he (`Umar) said to me, `Is this what you say, O Ibn `Abbas' I said, `No.' He then said, `What do you say' I said, `It was the end of the life of Allah's Messenger that Allah was informing him of. Allah said,
[إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ ]
(When there comes the help of Allah and the Conquest.) which means, that is a sign of the end of your life.
[فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوِبَا ]
(So, glorify the praises of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance and Who forgives.)' So, `Umar bin Al-Khattab said, `I do not know anything about it other than what you have said.''' Al-Bukhari was alone in recording this Hadith. Imam Ahmad recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "When
[إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ ]
(When there comes the help of Allah and the Conquest.) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah said,
«نُعِيَتْ إِلَيَّ نَفْسِي»
(My death has been announced to me.) And indeed he died during that year.'' Ahmad was alone in recording this Hadith. Al-Bukhari recorded that `A'ishah said, "The Messenger of Allah used to say often in his bowing and prostrating,
«سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا وَبِحَمْدِكَ اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي»
(Glory to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise be to You. O Allah, forgive me.) He did this as his interpretation of the Qur'an (i.e., showing its implementation).'' The rest of the group has also recorded this Hadith except for At-Tirmidhi. Imam Ahmad recorded from Masruq that `A'ishah said, "The Messenger of Allah used to often say towards the end of his life,
«سُبْحَانَ اللهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ، أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْه»
(Glory to Allah, and praise be unto Him. I seek Allah's forgiveness and I repent to Him.) And he said,
«إِنَّ رَبِّي كَانَ أَخْبَرَنِي أَنِّي سَأَرَى عَلَامَةً فِي أُمَّتِي، وَأَمَرَنِي إِذَا رَأَيْتُهَا أَنْ أُسَبِّحَ بِحَمْدِهِ وَأَسْتَغْفِرَهُ، إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا، فَقَدْ رَأَيْتُهَا:
[إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ - وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَجاً - فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوِبَا ]»
(Verily, my Lord has informed me that I will see a sign in my Ummah and He has commanded me that when I see it, I should glorify His praises and seek His forgiveness, for He is the One Who accepts repentance. And indeed I have seen it (i.e., the sign). (When there comes the help of Allah and the Conquest (Al-Fath). And you see that the people enter Allah's religion in crowds. So glorify the praises of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance and Who forgives.))'' Muslim also recorded this Hadith. The meaning of Al-Fath here is the conquest of Makkah, and there is only one view concerning it. For indeed the different areas of the Arabs were waiting for the conquest of Makkah before they would accept Islam. They said, "If he (Muhammad is victorious over his people, then he is a (true) Prophet.'' So when Allah gave him victory over Makkah, they entered into the religion of Allah (Islam) in crowds. Thus, two years did not pass (after the conquest of Makkah) before the peninsula of the Arabs was laden with faith. And there did not remain any of the tribes of the Arabs except that they professed (their acceptance) of Islam. And all praise and blessings are due to Allah. Al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih that `Amr bin Salamah said, "When Makkah was conquered, all of the people rushed to the Messenger of Allah to profess their Islam. The various regions were delaying their acceptance of Islam until Makkah was conquered. The people used to say, `Leave him and his people alone. If he is victorious over them he is a (true) Prophet.''' We have researched the war expedition for conquest of Makkah in our book As-Surah. Therefore, whoever wishes he may review it there. And all praise and blessings are due to Allah.Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu `Ammar that a neighbor of Jabir bin `Abdullah told him, "I returned from a journey and Jabir bin `Abdullah came and greeted me. So I began to talk with him about the divisions among the people and what they had started doing. Thus, Jabir began to cry and he said, `I heard the Messenger of Allah saying,
«إِنَّ النَّاسَ دَخَلُوا فِي دِينِ اللهِ أَفْوَاجًا، وَسَيَخْرُجُونَ مِنْهُ أَفْوَاجًا»
(Verily, the people have entered into the religion of Allah in crowds and they will also leave it in crowds.)'' This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat An-Nasr, and all praise and blessings are due to Allah.
Can Women Touch, Read, and or Recite the Qur'an
while in a state of impurity?
This is taken from the book on Dr.Bilal Phillips "Islamic Ruling on Menstruation and Post Natal Bleeding" page 12:
Touching and reciting the Qur’an. Menstruating women are permitted to read and touch the Qur’an.
*Footnote to the above statement: Although many scholars have prohibited menstruating women and people in the state of sexual defilement (junub) from reciting the Qur’an or touching it, Imaam al-Bukhaaree took the position that there was no authentic evidence to support such position and that it was in fact permitted. In support of his view he mentioned the positions of some of the early scholars who also permitted reciting and touching the Qur'an in order to show that the prohibition of menstruating women from reciting the Qur'an was not unanimous among scholars of the past. (Fat-h-al-Baaree, vol. 1 p. 305)
Ibn Taymeeyah said, "The prohibition of women from reading the Qur'an has no basis in either the Qur'an or the Sunnah. The statement attributed to the Prophet "The menstruating woman or person sexually defiled (junub) should not read anything of the Qur'an" is NOT authentic according to the unanimous opinion of the hadeeth scholars. Undoubtedly women used to menstruate during the Prophet's era and if recitation of the Qur'an was prohibited as formal prayer was prohibited, the Prophet would have explained it to his followers and his wives, and it would have been transmitted to us. Consequently, since no prohibition has been transmitted from the Prophet , it is not permissible to declare it haraam (forbidden) while knowing that he did not prohibit it. And if he did not prohibit it in spite of the many cases of menstruation during his time, it is obvious that it is not haraam
(al-Majmoo' vol. 26 p. 191)
Ibraaheem an-Nakha'ee (scholar among the students of the companions) said: "There is no harm in menstruating women reciting a Qur'anic verse. (It was also the opinion of Imam Maalik) (Vol. 1 p. 182 chap.. 9 of Sahih Al Bukhari) Imaam Al-Bukhari mentioned this incidence in order to prove that since the Prophet sent verses of the Qur'an to the pagans who were in a state of defilement, a menstruating woman should be able to read the Qur'an.
Fatawah or Islamic Rulings about some Important Issues by Sheikh Nasir-ud-Din-Al Albani
Q. - Is it prohibited to recite the Qur'an without wudoo?
A. - It is preferable to recite it upon purification. The hadeeth of the Messenger's making tayammum to reply to "as-Salaamu' alaikum" It is not forbidden to recite it without wudoo. As for the woman in her state of nifas or in after-birth confinement, then nothing prevents her from reciting the Qur'an. The hadeeth that At-Tirmidhee reported from Ibn 'Umar (r) that the Messenger said: "The woman ill with her period and the junub man may not recite the Qur'an" that is a 'munkar' hadeeth, as the Imaam of Sunnah Ahmad Ibn Hanbal says it is not authentic. Rather we have the hadeeth of Aisha (r) that the Messenger said to her when she made Hajj and she had her period: "Do everything the pilgrim does except prayer and tawaaf." Does not the pilgrim recite the Qur'an?"
So, this hadeeth is a clear proof of the permissibility of a woman's reciting/reading the Qur'an whilst in her period. Therefore it is not permissible to prevent the woman in her periods from reciting the Qur'an claiming that she is not pure! If Allah ta'ala had prevented her from reciting as He prevented her from praying, then we would follow that prevention and that would be the end of the matter. But He revealed to His Messenger a distinction between prayer and its constituent parts: since some people say that reciting the Qur'an is one of the pillars of the Prayer, so why do we not make purification a pre condition for it as it is for the prayer? So we say: Not only is reciting the Qur'an a part of the prayer, but also, prayer is begun by our saying "Allahu Akbar". So, we should also say that it is a requirement for saying 'takbeer' that we have wudoo! And the same goes for 'tasbeeh', 'tahmeed' etc. We find that some of the companions preferred to have wudoo to touch the Qur'an so that shows what is preferable, but to make it obligatory and to say that it is forbidden for a woman in her state of nifas to touch the Qur'an then that has no proof at all.
