27 – On the authority of ʿAsmāʾ bint Abī Bakr—may Allah be pleased with her—the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said about menstrual blood that gets onto a garment: “She should scrape it off, then rub it with water, then sprinkle it, and afterwards pray in that garment.” Agreed upon (1).
Glossary of the ḥadith
• Menstrual blood: its detailed ruling will follow, God willing.
• “Scrape it off”: from the verb ḥatta—meaning to rub or peel something from a cloth until its visible trace is gone.
• “Rub it (taqruṣuhu)”: to work the blood with one’s fingertips and water so that it breaks down and whatever the cloth has absorbed is released; as stated in Jamiʿ al-Gharāʾib, this is the most effective way to remove the stain.
• “Sprinkle it” (tanḍaḥuhu): to lightly splash the spot with water.
• “Then”: indicates sequence, so none of the latter steps may precede the former; the dried impurity must be removed in this specific order.
Ibn Baṭṭāl said: Scraping and rubbing are applicable when the blood has dried; they are of no use if it is still wet.
Points derived from the ḥadith
- Menstrual blood is impure, and even a small amount of it is not excused. It must therefore be removed from clothing, the body, and any other place that requires purification, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered that it be washed, in keeping with his general practice concerning impurities.