Using a Menstrual Cup, Cotton, Pads, or Tampons in Hanafi Fiqh
It is sunnah for virgin girls to use cotton specifically for their menstrual periods, and for widowed women to use cotton at all times. Scenting it with musk or another permissible fragrance is also sunnah.1
Our mother among the Companions, Aisha (radiyallahu anha), used to have menstrual cloths sent to her so that she could be asked whether menstruation had ended or not (al-Muwatta 1:59). May Allah be pleased with them all.
A woman has two vaginal areas, the inner private part and the outer private part. The outer private part, meaning the external vagina, is like the buttocks in relation to the anus.2 Cotton may be placed either inside or outside the vagina. A menstrual cloth or pad is placed outside the vagina, while a menstrual cup or tampon is placed inside. Placing cotton on the outside of the vagina is sunnah.3
The Beginning of Menstruation When Using a Menstrual Cup, Cotton, Pads, or Tampons
When cotton, a pad, or a menstrual cloth is placed outside the vagina, if even a small amount of moisture appears in them, menstruation has begun, even if the moisture does not pass to the external area.4,5 This is because blood has exited.
When cotton, a tampon, or a menstrual cup is placed inside the vagina, menstruation does not begin if moisture appears only on the inner part of these items. If moisture passes to the outer part, it is examined further. If the cotton, tampon, or menstrual cup reaches the level of the outer vagina, emerges outside, or falls out of the vagina, menstruation has begun.6,7 If the cotton, tampon, or menstrual cup has not reached the outside of the vagina, menstruation is not considered to have begun. However, if blood leaks from them and aligns with the edges of the vagina or leaks outside, menstruation has begun.
In such cases, the beginning of menstruation is the moment when leakage is seen on the edges of the vagina or outside it.
Even if blood, after emerging in a small amount, is blocked by cotton, a menstrual cup, or a tampon, menstruation is still considered to have begun.
The Beginning of Menstruation When Using a Menstrual Cup, Cotton, Pads, or Tampons Before Sleep
If a woman is in a state of purity, places cotton or a pad on the outside of the vagina before sleeping at night, then sleeps, and sees blood at dawn, meaning at the time of the morning prayer, menstruation is counted precautiously from the nearest time. The nearest time here is immediately after the entrance of the morning prayer time.8 The woman is not considered menstruating from the moment she falls asleep, but from the last time point. Therefore, if she did not perform the night prayer, she must make it up.
However, if before sleep the woman places cotton, a menstrual cup, or a tampon inside the vagina and no blood leaks outside, menstruation has not begun, because no blood has been seen.9
The End of Menstruation When Using a Menstrual Cup, Cotton, Pads, or Tampons Before Sleep
If a menstruating woman places a menstrual cup, cotton, a pad, or a tampon before sleeping at night, then sleeps, and at dawn sees pure white or clear discharge on them, it means that no blood was seen during the night. If she did not perform the night prayer, she must make it up.10
Allah knows best.
1 İmam Birgivi, Kadınlara Mahsus Haller, trans. Hüsamettin VANLIOĞLU, Fatih KALENDER, Abdullah HİÇDÖNMEZ ve Emin Ali YÜKSEL (İstanbul: İsmailağa Yayınevi, 2024), 33
2 İmam Serahsî, Mebsut, ed. Cevat AKŞİT, cilt 9, (İstanbul: Gümüşev Yayınları, 2018)238
3 İmam Birgivi, Kadınlara Mahsus Haller, 33
4 İmam Birgivi, Kadınlara Mahsus Haller, 34
5 İmam Serahsî, Mebsut, 238
6 İmam Birgivi, Kadınlara Mahsus Haller, 34
7 İmam Serahsî, Mebsut, 238
8 İmam Serahsî, Mebsut, 238
9 İmam Birgivi, Kadınlara Mahsus Haller, 25
10 İmam Serahsî, Mebsut, 238