How a woman who is menstruating spends her time in Ramadan

Question:
A woman asks: How does a woman who is menstruating spend her time in Ramadan? And if she listens to complete and organized Qur'an tapes, does she receive reward?

Answer:
The menstruating woman and the woman with post-natal bleeding share in Ramadan in increasing the remembrance of Allah, seeking forgiveness, giving charity, and hastening in good deeds. However, she is prohibited from prayer. As for reciting the Qur'an, scholars have differed on it, and the correct view is that she may recite from memory without touching the mushaf, because she is not of the same category as the one in a state of major ritual impurity. The one in a state of major ritual impurity does not recite until he performs the full ritual bath; his duration is short, so he bathes and recites. But the duration of menstruation is long, and post-natal bleeding can also be long. Therefore, the stronger view is that it is permissible for her to recite from memory and to review the mushaf from behind a barrier when necessary, because she should not be compared to the one in a state of major ritual impurity. She must strive in various types of good, except for prayer and fasting; she does not fast and does not pray until she becomes pure. But she strives in types of good, such as glorifying Allah, saying there is no god but Allah, praising Allah, and seeking forgiveness, giving charity, enjoining good and forbidding evil, and calling to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and other forms of good.