Benefits of the Hadith: (Allah does not accept the prayer of a menstruating woman except with a head covering)

The Shaykh : This hadith contains several benefits. One of them is that acts of worship may be either accepted or rejected. What is the criterion? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the criterion in his saying: And in another wording: This is the criterion for what is rejected; everything else is accepted. Another benefit of this hadith is that when a woman reaches puberty, it is obligatory for her to cover her head with a head covering when praying, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): He remained silent regarding the rest of the body. He remained silent for one of two reasons: either the rest of the body is not part of the awrah (part of the body that must be covered) in prayer, or the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent because covering it is well known. Let us look at the face; he remained silent about it. What do we say? We say: he remained silent because covering it in prayer is not obligatory. He remained silent about the hands and feet. Do we say: because covering them is well known, or because uncovering them is well known? Both possibilities are open. Therefore, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding the obligation of covering the hands and feet during prayer. Some said it is obligatory, and some said it is not obligatory. The view that it is not obligatory is more apparent, and the view that it is obligatory—meaning the obligation of covering—is more cautious. Accordingly, we instruct the woman before she prays to cover her hands and feet. But if she prays with her hands and feet uncovered and then comes to ask, do we order her to repeat the prayer or not? We do not order her to repeat it, because the more apparent view in the evidence is that covering the hands and feet is not obligatory. There is a difference: the thing that is done on the basis of caution is what a person is ordered to do before performing the act. But after he has performed it, what was obligatory on the basis of caution cannot be used to invalidate the act of worship.
Another benefit of this hadith is the distinction between the young girl and the one who has reached puberty. Because his saying: is a descriptive phrase that has an effect. Its implication is that the non-menstruating woman prays without a head covering. So the woman who has not reached puberty, even if she is eleven, twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years old, and even if her awrah in prayer is what is between the navel and the knee, as the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) said, meaning that if she prays and her arm, upper arm, neck, or leg is exposed, her prayer is valid because she had not reached puberty.
Another benefit of this hadith is that menstruation brings about puberty. The proof of this is the distinction made by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) between the menstruating woman and the non-menstruating woman. If there were no distinction between them, such that the menstruating woman is accountable and the one who has not menstruated is not accountable, then linking the ruling to this description would have no effect. If someone asks: Is the puberty of a female determined by post-natal bleeding? The answer is: No. The answer is no. This is one of the differences between menstruation and post-natal bleeding, because her pregnancy does not occur except through discharge, so she is considered to have reached puberty by what? By the discharge that preceded the pregnancy. As for post-natal bleeding, it is after. This is one of the differences between post-natal bleeding and menstruation. Another difference is that divorce during post-natal bleeding is permissible, whereas divorce during menstruation is not permissible. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): And menstruation is not counted in the waiting period. I mean post-natal bleeding; post-natal bleeding is not counted in the waiting period. And if it is not counted in the waiting period, and the divorced woman’s waiting period begins from the time of divorce, then it would be as if he divorced her for the waiting period. As for menstruation, if he divorces her during the menstrual period, that menstrual period in which the divorce occurred is nullified. And at that time, he did not divorce her for the waiting period, because what is the waiting period for a menstruating woman? Three menstrual periods. If someone asks: Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not say to 'Umar: We say: Yes, but let him divorce her while she is pure. From what? From menstruation, because Ibn 'Umar divorced her while she was menstruating. For this reason, he said: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used the verse as evidence. So there is a difference here between post-natal bleeding and menstruation. Divorce is not permissible during menstruation, and divorce is permissible during post-natal bleeding. There are six differences, even though many jurists mentioned only four, but there is an addition. All right.