Entering Ihram While Menstruating

A woman asks: She was menstruating and her family wanted to go to make Umrah and if she lagged behind, there would be no one to stay with her, therefore, she went with them to the Umrah and performed all of the rites of the Umrah, including the Tawaf and the Sa’i, as if she was not menstruating. She did this out of ignorance and out of shyness, not wanting to tell her guardian. You should know that she is illiterate and does not know how to read or write. What must she do?

If she made the Ihram for Umrah, then she must repeat the Tawaf after making Ghusl and repeat the act of cutting some of the hair.

As for her making the rounds between as-Safa and Al-Marwah, they are proper according to the strongest opinion among the scholars.

If she repeats them after the Tawaf, that would be better and safer. She must repent to Allah for her Tawaf and prayer of two Rak’ahs while she was menstruating.

If she is married, her husband cannot have sexual intercourse with her until she completes her Umrah. If he has already had sexual intercourse with her, then her Umrah has been nullified and she must sacrifice a year old woolen sheep or a two year old goat in Mecca to be distributed to the poor.

She must also complete her Umrah as was mentioned previously.

She must perform a new Umrah from the same Miqat that she entered the Ihram from previously, in replacement of her spoiled Umrah.

But if she simply performed the Umrah with them out of courtesy and bashfulness and she did not [actually and intentionally] enter the state of Ihram from the Miqat, then the only thing upon her is to repent to Allah.

This is because Hajj and Umrah are not valid without entering the state of Ihram. And the Ihram is the intention for Hajj or Umrah or both.

We ask Allah for guidance and safety for all of us from the whisperings of Satan.

Sheikh Ibn Baz