Fatwa ID: 06256

 

Answered by: Maulana Sibghat Ullah

 

Question:

 

Are married women allowed tampons?

 

 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

Answer:

 

Your question is connected with various issues which are mostly cultural. So, for better understanding, I have divided it into the following reasons to cover all the angles connected with these issues.

 

1. Cultural reasons.
2. Islamic perspective.

 

1. Cultural reasons:-

 

Some people consider using tampons impermissible for unmarried and virgin women because they fear that the woman may not remain a virgin, which they believe to be a defect in the woman.

 

This, according to the Islamic understanding, is incorrect. The hymen of a woman may be broken in many ways: Injury, accident, playing sports, riding a bicycle, penetration of any sort such as a medical examination etc.

 

Thus, Islam commands the husband not to suspect any wrongdoing on behalf of his spouse if he were to see her not being a virgin.

 

 

2. Islamic perspective:-

 

It was narrated by Hamnah Bint Jahsh that:

She experienced prolonged non-menstrual bleeding during the time of the Messenger of Allah. She came to the Messenger of Allah and said: “I am suffering prolonged and painful bleeding.” He said: “Fill it with a pad of cloth.” She said: “It is worse than that, it is flowing copiously.” He said: “Then bind yourself with a cloth and observe your menses for six or seven days, in the knowledge of Allah, then have a bath and perform prayer and fast for twenty-three or twenty-four days. Delay Zuhr and bring ‘Asr forward, and take (one) bath for both, and delay Maghrib and bring ‘Isha’ forward, and have (one) bath for both. That is what I prefer of the two matters.’”ⁱ

 

So, putting on the period pad is allowed and recommended. As far as the Islamic perspective on using tampons for married and unmarried women is concerned, in principle, it is considered to be disliked (makruh), for it is something that is inserted in the internal part of a woman’s vagina because it resembles masturbation. ⁱⁱ

 

But placing cotton (kursuf) (or anything that absorbs blood) on the opening of the vagina is recommended (mustahab)

 

 

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Sibghat Ullah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham 

 

 

 

 

 

i  Sunan Ibn Maja, The Book of Purification and its Sunnah

 

ii Majmu’a Rasa’il IbnAbidin, 1/84-85