Monday, December 26, 2011

(T.Y.U.) Lesson 1 - Introduction & Types of Discharge

 

 
TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING


PART 1 (TRUE OR FALSE):


1)     Abnormal bleeding causes minor ritual impurity only when it exits from the vagina.  ______
2)     Whether blood is impure depends on the type of discharge.  ______
3)     Menstruation causes major ritual impurity by its mere presence in the vagina even if it doesn’t actually exit from the vagina.  ______
4)     Normal vaginal discharge could be dusky.  ______
5)     The end of menstruation and lochia is established when no blood is seen on the pad or underwear.  ______
6)     Studying the fiqh of menstruation is communal obligatory knowledge.  ______



PART 2:


1)     Towards the end of her menstruation, Zaynab sees yellow discharge.  Has her menstruation ended?  Why?
2)     A few days after her menstruation ended, Zaynab experiences thick, creamy discharge that looks like egg white.  No matter how much she cleans herself, it doesn’t go away.  What is this?
3)     Fatimah’s 8 year old daughter is seeing red discharge.  What is this?
4)     Zaynab’s friend advices her to check her pad to determine whether or not her menstruation has ended.  Is this method correct?  Why?
5)     Ruqayyah sees white discharge on her underwear.  She makes wudhu and prays.  Is her prayer valid?  Why?
6)     Ruqayyah is experiencing brown discharge.  What could this be?
7)     List the colours of normal vaginal discharge.
8)     Define lochia.


Answers will be posted in a week's time, insya Allah, so then one may have enough time to go over this exercise.







Sunday, December 25, 2011

Are You Happy?


By Abu Muhammad Yusuf
We are all searching for happiness. In achieving this happiness our attitude in life plays a crucial role.

After years of hard and dedicated service to his company, Ahmed was being appointed at an elegant reception as the new director. It was a small function where his wife Fatimah, a Home Executive, and some of the wives of the other persons in top management were also present.

In an adjacent room, Ann, the wife of the CEO of the company, asked Ahmed's wife a very odd and unusual question; "Does your husband make you happy?"

The husband, Ahmed, who at that moment was not at her side, but was sufficiently near to hear the question, paid attention to the conversation, sitting up slightly, feeling secure, even filling his chest lightly in pride and hope, knowing that his spouse was a role model Muslimah and would definitely not publically lower or degrade her husband, would answer affirmatively, since she had always been there for him during their marriage and generally in life. Nevertheless, to both his and the others' surprise, she replied simply;

"No, no he doesn't make me happy…"

The room became uncomfortably silent, as if everyone were listening to the spouse's response. There was a sudden coldness in the air. The husband was petrified. A frown appeared on his face. He couldn't believe what his wife was saying, especially at such an important occasion for him. To the amazement of her husband and of everyone!

Fatimah sat up firmly, moved her elegant black hijab in place, and explained in a modest but stern tone to the other wives who were present;

"No, he doesn't make me happy… I AM HAPPY. The fact that I am happy or not doesn't depend on him, but on me. Allah Ta'ala is Most Wise and has granted each of us intellect and discretion to reason, interpret and decide. Allah Ta'ala made me the person upon which my happiness depends. I make the choice to be happy in each situation and in each moment of my life. If my happiness were to depend on other people, on other things or circumstances on the face of this earth, I would be in serious trouble! Over my life I have learned a couple of things: I decide to be happy and the rest is a matter of 'experiences or circumstances;' like helping, and understanding, accepting, listening, consoling; and with my spouse, I have lived and practiced this many times. Honestly, true happiness lies in being content"

Relieved and reassured, a smile was clearly noticed on Ahmed's face.

Moral:  Happiness will always be found in contentment, forgiveness and in loving yourself and others. To truly love is difficult, it is to forgive unconditionally, to live, to take the "experiences or circumstances" as they are, facing them together and being happy with conviction. There are those who say I cannot be happy:

·       Because I am sick. 

·       Because I have no money. 

·       Because it's too cold. 

·       Because they insulted me. 

·       Because someone stopped loving me. 

·       Because someone didn't appreciate me.

But what you don't know is that you can be happy even though you are sick, whether it is too hot, whether you have money or not, whether someone has insulted you, or someone didn't love you, or hasn't valued you.

The Noble Messenger of Allah Ta'ala (sallallahu a'laihi wassallam) is reported to have said: "The happiness of the son of Adam depends on his being content with what Allah has decreed for him…the misery of the son of Adam results from in his discontent with what Allah has decreed for him." (Hadith- Tirmidhi)

Being Happy is an attitude about life and each one of us must decide!

Being Happy, depends on you! 

(F.R.I.) Lesson 1 - Introduction & Types of Discharge



‘Whoever travels a path upon which he seeks knowledge, Allah takes him along a path to Jannah.’ (Bukhari)

‘Deeds depend on intentions; each person receives according to what he intends.’ (Muttafuqqun ‘alaih)

Before we begin, one should stop and rectify one’s intention on reading whatever’s posted under this topic (now and in the future, insya Allah).  One’s intention should be to seek Allah’s pleasure and nothing else.  Then one will not only attain the full reward of seeking beneficial knowledge for Allah’s sake but also insya Allah be able to reform one’s worship. 

Beneficial knowledge is that knowledge which increases one in fear and love of Allah, has an effect on one’s soul and action according to Imam Ghazali (rahmatullahi ‘alaih).  Also, Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) used to make doa for protection against non-beneficial knowledge. 

It is only by means of knowledge will one be able to distinguish between what’s right and wrong.  Once this is achieved, then one can then worship Allah as how He is supposed to be worshipped. 

Knowledge is divided into two:
  • Personal obligatory knowledge – obligatory upon every sane, adult Muslim and if one doesn’ obtain it, one is sinful
  • Communal obligatory knowledge – a certain number of people need to obtain the knowledge such that they lift the obligation whether it be secular or Islamic knowledge

Another thing to bear in mind is that experiencing menstruation or lochia neither renders a woman impure and nor does it indicate a man is more superior to a woman.  This is a huge misconception.  A woman merely enters into a state of impurity but the woman in herself is not impure. 

With regards to superiority, it is judged based on one’s taqwa and nothing else.  Therefore, a menstruating woman who is obedient to Allah is definitely more superior in the eyes of Allah to a man who is disobedient to Allah.

One should also know that rulings are divided into five which are:

1)     Wajib – one is rewarded for doing and punished for leaving (eg. praying)
2)     Mustahab – one is rewarded for doing but not sinful for doing (eg. sunnahs)
3)     Mandub – by leaving it one is neither rewarded nor punished (eg. eating, sleeping, drinking).  However, by having an intention for Allah, one changes it into an act of worship for Allah therefore one will gain reward for it
4)     Makruh – one is not punished for doing but rewarded for leaving it (eg. praying at the end of prayer time)
5)     Haram – one is rewarded for leaving it and sinful for doing it (eg. praying at sunrise)

Last but not least, may Allah accept from this insignificant writer and from all of us.  May Allah guide and keep us on the straight path. Amin.



LESSON 1 – INTRODUCTION & TYPES OF DISCHARGE


In this lesson, we’ll give a brief introduction about menstruation and its sisters insya Allah.  We’ll start with the absolute basics and fundamentals of menstruation and its sisters.  At the end of the lesson, some Q&As which were asked during the course will be provided.  Also, a ‘Test Your Understanding’ section will be included to help reinforce what has been discussed.  This is true throughout the entire course, insya Allah.

First things first.  It is absolutely essential for a woman who experiences menstruation, lochia or abnormal uterine bleeding to keep a record.  For those of us who have not been doing this, it’s about time we start.  This will help us understand further about the cycles we experience and also make things easier for the scholar one seeks assistance from when needing assistance in clarifying an issue.

This record is no ordinary record like one’s organizer, rather, this record acts as one’s guide to worship Allah properly.  So, it is necessary for one to keep this record in one’s reach.  It can be any type of record (ie. hardcover book, electronic organizer, a table in Microsoft Words or even an application downloaded into one’s phone).  However, the trick is that, it has to be easily accessible and always at hand.

Okay, what goes into this record?  Well, since this record is unique, proper details must be recorded into it.  We need to keep track of when our menses, lochia or abnormal uterine bleeding starts and ends.  Then, we also need to jot down the times for the starting and ending of these occurrences (ie. the exact time and day).  

Nobody likes dull and boring records, right?  So let’s do ourselves a favour and include the colour and strength (ie. dark or light) of the bleeding.  Can’t see any relevance to what we’re studying yet?  Don’t worry, things will become clearer as we go further into the subject, insya Allah.

Another thing that we might want to keep with us wherever we are is an extra pad!  Accidents do happen and ‘Miss Scarlet’ loves surprises sometimes so it’s better to get our umbrellas ready before it rains!

Example Record:

Menses
Day: Friday
Date: 10th January
Time: 6:00am
Colour: Dark red

Ghusl
Day: Monday
Date: 13th January
Time: 9:00pm


RULING

Q. What is the ruling of studying the jurisprudence of menstruation?
A.  It is ‘ilmul haal (ie. personal obligatory knowledge) for girls nearing puberty, husbands (not men) and guardians of girls (eg. father).  This means that one should know the rulings of a particular action when required or intending to do something at a specific time or in a specific state.


DISCHARGE & BLOOD

Discharge is divided into two:
1.      Blood – impure
2.      Normal vaginal discharge – pure; clear, white or creamy (shade of white)

Blood is further divided into three:
1.      Menstruation – natural healthy bleeding that exits the uterus through the vagina and out of a girl at least 9 lunar years in age, that is not caused by illness
2.      Lochia – blood that exits the uterus through the vagina after the fetus leaves the womb (baby has to totally leave the womb)
3.      Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) – everything besides menstruation and lochia


CONDITIONS

For one to experience a valid menstruation, the following conditions must be met:

1)     Minimum period of bleeding:  At least 24 hours
2)     Maximum period of bleeding:  15 days
3)     Minimum period of purity:  At least 15 days
4)     Maximum period of purity:  None


COLOUR

When one speaks about blood, only one colour comes to mind – red. But, interestingly, the scholars of jurisprudence have given specific colours in relation to the topic of menstruation and red is not the only one.  Subhanallah!  And here we’re thinking that fiqh is not interesting!  The colours of blood are:

Black
Red
Brown
Yellow
Dusky

Strength decreases:  Black strongest, dusky weakest.


Therefore when one sees discharge from any of the colours mentioned above, it would be considered as blood.

Normal vaginal discharge and AUB cause minor ritual impurity when they exit from the vagina.  Menstruation and lochia on the other hand cause major ritual impurity by mere presence in the vagina even if they don’t exit.


CHECKING ONE’S DISCHARGE

One should not take into consideration of what one sees on one’s pad to give a valid ruling (ie. whether the discharge is blood or normal vaginal discharge) as this is incorrect.  This is because the discharge would have oxidized when it exits from the vagina and thus, whatever remains on the pad is not necessarily its actual colour. 


Consider this diagram:




 
For that reason, only fresh discharge may be used to determine the ruling and this is achieved by applying the method prescribed below.  The method on checking one’s discharge differs for a virgin and non-virgin.

For a virgin, she should observe the following:

1.      Firmly place a piece of white cloth (kursuf), can be toilet roll, between the labial lips
2.      Wait long enough for discharge to be appear by the cloth
3.      Remove the cloth and immediately check the color of the fresh discharge


Reminder:  A virgin should never endanger her virginity by inserting anything in herself invasively.

 For a non-virgin:

1.      Insert a cotton ball into her vagina
2.      Remove the cotton ball and immediately check the color of the fresh discharge



Q&A SECTION


1.      It is said that normal vaginal discharge is pure.  Can we then pray with some staining of the discharge on our undergarment or does it need to be changed even if there was a little discharge found on it? 
Yes, no need to change even if a lot because it is pure.

2.      Has Ustadha ever come across the term ‘dammul wilaadah’ which necessitates ghusl?  If yes, could Ustadha please explain what it is?  Is it the same as lochia?   
      The term dammul wilaadah, also called dammul talq, is usually used to describe the blood that sometimes exists during labor and in the process of child birth, but before the baby has fully exited the womb. Therefore it is not considered lochia (ie. AUB, don’t need ghusl).

3.      Ustadha, if we checked our underwear/pad immediately after discharge exits without either using the kursuf/cotton ball, will the ruling be valid?  Or do we still need to undergo the procedure of either using a kursuf/cotton ball? 
In theory it will be valid if you're certain that it's fresh and the underwear/pad is white enough to show the true color.  I believe it's hard to achieve this in practice, because by the time the discharge exits and one goes to the bathroom to check, the discharge would have oxidized.

4.      Ustadha mentioned that anything that exits the vagina breaks the wudhu’.  Does this include wind too? 
Yes, wind that exits the vagina breaks the wudu.

5.      In class today you said blood is always impure and always causes major ritual impurity. On Q.4 of week 1 quiz it states that abnormal bleeding does not cause major ritual impurity. Please could you clarify. 
Thank you for your question. We didn't say that blood always causes major impurity, we said that only if this blood is menses or lochia it would cause major ritual impurity (please check lesson 1 handout). This is one point. Blood being always impure is a separate point.

So we say:
- Menstrual and lochial blood causes major ritual impurity.
- AB blood when it exits the vagina causes minor ritual impurity.
- Whether this blood is menes, lochia or AB, it is always impure
.

6.      How far does the white cotton need to be inserted to check ourselves?
When a woman squats, the outside of her private part will show and this is where she should be checking internally.  What shows by squatting differs for a virgin and a non-virgin.

Next Lesson:  Unlawful Matters In Menstruation and Lochia (Insya Allah)