The Ruling on a Menstruating Woman Washing Female Deceased

Question:
This questioner, Maryam from the Northern Region, says: She is a married woman, thirty-eight years old, who prays and fasts. She studied how to wash deceased women. An elderly woman told her that it is not permissible for her to wash the deceased because she is still a woman who experiences the legal excuse (menstruation). She swore an oath that she would not wash anyone. Then she was compelled to wash a deceased woman because her family could not find anyone to do it, so she did so. Is it correct that a woman does not wash women because she experiences the monthly excuse?

Answer:
This statement is false. She may wash the deceased even if she is experiencing her period. The point is: a woman washes women, or she washes her husband, and there is no harm whether she is experiencing her period or not. The matter is broad in this regard, and praise be to Allah, whether she is young or old, experiencing her period or not.
As for the one who swore, she owes an expiation for the oath, since she swore she would not wash and then did wash. The expiation for her oath is feeding ten poor people, or clothing them. For each poor person, it is half a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of the local staple food, which is one and a half kilograms of the local staple food, such as dates or otherwise. Or clothing them, where each person receives a shirt, or a lower garment and an upper garment, as expiation for her oath.
As for the one who told her, "Do not wash while you are experiencing your period," that is a mistake. A woman washes women, and she washes her husband absolutely, whether she is a young woman experiencing her period, or an old woman. Yes.