A group held that it means menstruation. This was the view of ‘Umar, ‘Ali, Ibn Mas‘ud, and Ibn ‘Abbas; it was also held by al-Hasan and Mujahid, and adopted by al-Awza‘i, al-Thawri, and the adherents of legal opinion. 37/A They argued that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to the woman suffering from non-menstrual bleeding: “Leave off prayer during the days of your quruʾ.” (1) A woman only leaves off prayer during the days of her menstruation.

Another group held that it means the periods of ritual purity. This was the view of Zayd ibn Thabit, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, and ‘A’ishah; it was also the view of the Seven Jurists and al-Zuhri, and was adopted by Rabi‘ah, Malik, and al-Shafi‘i. They argued that when Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, divorced his wife while she was menstruating, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to ‘Umar: “Command him to take her back until she becomes pure. Then, if he wishes, he may retain her; and if he wishes, he may divorce her before having intercourse with her. That is the waiting period for which Allah commanded women to be divorced.” (2)

Thus, he indicated that the time of the waiting period is the period of ritual purity. Linguistic evidence is found in the poet’s words:

Each year you undertake a raid,
girding yourself with firm resolve for its furthest reaches,

bequeathing wealth and honour among the tribe,
at the cost of the quruʾ of your women, lost thereby.

What he meant was that he would depart on military expeditions and not have intercourse with his wives, so that their quruʾ would be lost. Travel only causes the periods of ritual purity to be lost, not the times of menstruation.

The practical consequence of this disagreement appears when a woman observing the waiting period enters her third menstruation. According to those who hold that the quruʾ are periods of ritual purity, her waiting period ends at that point; they count as one quruʾ the remainder of the period of purity during which the divorce took place. ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “Once a divorced woman begins to bleed from her third menstruation, she is free of him and he is free of her.” Those who hold that the quruʾ are menstruations say that her waiting period does not end until she has become pure from the third menstruation.

This disagreement arises because the noun quruʾ may refer to both ritual purity and menstruation. One says that a woman has entered a quruʾ when she menstruates, and one also says that she has entered a quruʾ when she becomes pure; she is thus described as muqriʾ. They also differed concerning its origin. Abu ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala’ and Abu ‘Ubaydah said: It denotes the time for something to come and go. Thus it is said, “So-and-so returned at his qurʾ and at his qariʾ,” meaning, at the time when he returns. Likewise, “This is the qariʾ of the winds,” meaning the time when they blow. Malik ibn al-Harith al-Hudhali said:

I detested the slaughter—the slaughter of Banu Shalil—
when the winds blew at their appointed time.

That is, at their time. The word qurʾ can apply to both meanings, since menstruation comes at an appointed time, as does ritual purity. It was also said that it derives from qarʾ, meaning restraint and gathering. The Arabs say, “The she-camel has never contained a young one in her womb,” meaning that her womb has never enclosed a young one. From this comes the expression, “I gathered water in the miqrah,” that is, the trough, meaning that I collected it, with its hamzah omitted. Thus, qurʾ here means the retention and gathering of blood. Accordingly, the stronger view is—