According to the jurists, the only point of disagreement concerns the area below the navel and above the knee. The noble verse commands shunning only the place of menstruation—that is, the vagina—where Allah, Exalted is He, says: “So keep away from women during menstruation” (Qur’an 2:222). Likewise, the ḥadīth, “Everything is permissible except intercourse,” recorded by Muslim, indicates that every part of a menstruating woman’s body may be enjoyed except the place of harm.

A comparison of the three religions:
• The Jews consider the menstruating woman to be unclean and polluted; they exclude her and keep away from her, holding her body, clothing, and bedding to be impure. Imām Aḥmad 11945 and Muslim 302 relate from Anas that “when a woman among the Jews menstruated, they would not eat with her nor stay with her in the house.”

• The Christians, by contrast, are lax and negligent: they deem intercourse with her vagina permissible despite the harm and impurity involved. A detailed discussion of intercourse during menses and its harms will follow, God willing.

• Islam takes the middle path between excess and neglect; it is the religion of justice in all matters. In Islam the impurity of a menstruating woman is confined to her vagina alone, and that alone is forbidden. Allah says: “So keep away from women during menstruation” (Qur’an 2:222).

Muslim 302 records that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do everything except intercourse.” In Sunan Abī Dāwūd 213 it is narrated that Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what is lawful for me with my wife when she is menstruating?” He replied, “Whatever lies above the waist-wrapper.” Al-Bukhārī 300 and Muslim 293 report from ʿĀʾishah: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to tell me to put on a waist-cloth, then he would touch me while I was menstruating,” meaning he would place his skin against hers.

Thus Islam has elevated itself above the harm and filth from which the Christians did not refrain.