The Ruling on having Sexual Intercourse with a Menstruating Woman

Question :

A person had sex with his wife while she had her period, that is after her menstruation or her post- partum bleeding had ceased, but before she had performed Ghusl; this was due to ignorance on his part. Is there any atonement incumbent upon him, and how much is it? And if his wife becomes pregnant as a result of this act of intercourse, will it be said that the child resulted from unlawful acts?

Answer:

Having sex with a menstruating woman is forbidden, based upon the Words of Allah, the Most High:

They ask you concerning menstruation. Say that is an Adha (a harmful thing for a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her menses), therefore keep away from women during menses and go not unto them until they are purified (from menses and have taken a bath).

Whoever does so must seek forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance, and he must give a dinar or half a dinar in charity as an expiation for what he has done, as reported by Imam Ahmad and the compilers of the Sunan with a good chain of narration, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet said, concerning one who had had sexual intercourse with his wife while she was menstruating that he must give a dinar or half a dinar in charity; and whichever of them you do (i.e. a dinar or half a dinar), you will have its reward.

And the dinar is equivalent to 4/7th of one Saudi pound, so if the value of the Saudi pound was seventy riyals, for example, then the amount you would be obliged to give in charity to the poor would be twenty riyals, or forty riyals.

And it is not permissible to have sex with her after her blood flow ceases and before she has made Ghusl, because Allah, the Most High says:

...And go not unto them until they are purified (from menses and have taken a bath). And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah has ordained for you.

So Allah, the Most Glorified did not sanction sexual intercourse with the menstruating woman until the flow of menstrual blood has stopped and she has purified herself, i.e. performed Ghusl. And whoever had sexual intercourse with her before she has had a Ghusl has committed a sin and must atone for it. If the wife becomes pregnant through sexual intercourse when she is menstruating, or after it has ceased, but before she has performed Ghusl, it will not be said of her child that it is a child of an unlawful act, indeed, he is her legitimate child.