The Ruling on a Woman in Menstruation or Post-Natal Bleeding Reciting the Qur'an

A message was received by the program from Yemen, signed by one of the sisters, (M. A. A.). Our sister says: We are students studying in a girls' school, and in the Qur'an class, the teacher orders us to recite the Qur'an while we are in a state of excuse. We are shy to inform the teacher, so we recite under compulsion. Is this permissible for us? And if it is not permissible, how should we act during exams if they coincide with our days? May Allah reward you with good?
Answer: The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, differed regarding the recitation of the Qur'an by a woman in menstruation or post-natal bleeding. Some scholars held that it is forbidden and likened them to a person in a state of major ritual impurity. They said: It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that a person in a state of major ritual impurity does not recite, because major ritual impurity is a major state of impurity, and menstruation is like that, and post-natal bleeding is like that. So they said: The woman in menstruation does not recite, and the woman in post-natal bleeding does not recite until she becomes pure. They also cited as evidence a hadith narrated by al-Tirmidhi from Ibn 'Umar that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Others among the scholars held that it is permissible for the woman in menstruation to recite, and likewise for the woman in post-natal bleeding, from memory. This is because their periods are long; the woman in post-natal bleeding takes many days, and the woman in menstruation also takes days, even if the woman in post-natal bleeding takes more. So it is not correct to liken them to a person in a state of major ritual impurity, whose period is short. When he is done with his need, he can take a full ritual bath and recite.
As for the woman in menstruation, she is not able to do that until the blood stops, and likewise the woman in post-natal bleeding. So they are in need of reciting. They said: The hadith in which it is said: , is a weak hadith. The scholars deemed it weak because it is from the narration of Isma'il ibn 'Iyadh from the people of the Hijaz, and his narration from them is weak. This opinion is the correct one: that it is permissible for the woman in menstruation to recite, and likewise for the woman in post-natal bleeding, for the reasons mentioned above: because their periods are long, because likening them to a person in a state of major ritual impurity is not correct, and because the hadith prohibiting recitation is weak.
Therefore: There is nothing wrong with the student reciting the Qur'an, and likewise the teacher, in the exam and outside the exam, from memory, not from the mushaf, but from memory.
As for when the mushaf is needed, it should be done from behind a barrier. She wears gloves and touches it without the gloves, or from behind her other thick clothes. She looks at the verse when the mushaf is needed, or some of her classmates memorize it for her so she can recite if she is unable to recite from memory.
So the conclusion is: There is nothing wrong with reciting from memory, according to the correct opinion.
And likewise from the mushaf from behind a barrier, such as gloves on the hands or a cloth placed on the hands, touching it with it when needed. Or she memorizes it, and her pure sister holds it for her so she can look at the mushaf while it is in her pure sister's hand. All of this has no blame on it, if Allah wills, according to the correct opinion of the scholars.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.