First: The Prophet ﷺ and his wife would perform the post-sexual bath from a single vessel, for the water itself is pure and is not affected by a person in a state of janābah (major ritual impurity) drawing from it, provided he has washed his hands before placing them into the container.
Second: The Prophet ﷺ wished to establish a ruling for his community concerning closeness to a menstruating woman. The Jews of his time neither ate with her nor shared her bed, so he ﷺ would tell ʿĀʾishah to wrap a waist-cloth around her lower body and would caress her below the navel while she was menstruating.
Third: A menstruating woman is not to enter the mosque lest she soil it. Because of this, while in iʿtikāf (spiritual retreat) the Prophet ﷺ would extend his head to her quarters and she would wash it, demonstrating that mere proximity to a menstruating woman is unobjectionable for such tasks and that the Law has granted ease where the Jews imposed hardship.
Points derived from the ḥadīth
1 – It is permissible for two people in a state of janābah to bathe from one vessel.
2 – Intimate contact with a menstruating woman short of intercourse is lawful, and her body remains pure; menstruation does not render it impure.
3 – It is recommended that she wear a waist-cloth during such intimacy.
4 – One should adopt precautionary means that prevent falling into the forbidden.
5 – A menstruating woman is barred from entering the mosque.
6 – She may handle wet or dry objects, including washing and combing hair.
7 – If someone in iʿtikāf puts his head outside the mosque he is not considered to have left it; the same applies to any limb so long as the whole body has not exited.
Second ḥadīth
ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recline in my lap while I was menstruating and would recite the Quran.”
Explanation of unusual expressions
“Yattakiʾu fī ḥijrī” (recline in my lap): the verb yattakiʾu contains a hamzah. The word ḥijr may be pronounced with either an open or a closed ḥāʾ; both forms are acceptable.