We all must have heard how in India, menstruation is a topic associated with immense stigma and numerous taboos; women are made to feel ashamed for a bodily function which is as normal as breathing. For instance, in Hindu middle-class families, menstruating women are often isolated in special rooms away from people, they are barred from touching certain food items such as pickles and are majorly restricted from entering the kitchen or the puja ghar. Furthermore, in most Indian families, there is little or no conversation about menstruation. When one digs deeper, it is found out that such stigma is rooted in ‘Brahminical patriarchy‘ which aligns with the Brahminical concepts of caste purity and pollution. It is maintained by regulating the actions of women because traditionally, women are the upholders of their castes. The question posed here is – is it the same case with Indian Muslims who are in proximity to the Hindu cultures?
What does religion suggest?
According to Islam, a menstruating woman is neither spiritually nor physically impure; the impurity is rather ‘ritualistic’. Ritualistic purity is obligatory for partaking in different forms of acts of worship such as for Salah, or before touching the Holy Quran, which can be attained by ritual ablutions of washing such as wudu (for minor impurities) and ghusl (for major impurities). However, the wudu becomes invalid due to certain bodily discharges such as urine, stool, farting (minor), and semen and menstruation (major), which suggests to us that the requirement of ritualistic purity is not per se gendered or exclusionary. Instead the Hadith (accounts and saying of the Prophet Muhammad) suggests that menstruation was never a topic of stigma and impurity. For instance, according to Sahih Muslim Hadith, there was no practice of performing untouchability with the menstruating women, nor was she restricted from touching things.
Book 3, Number 0587:
‘A’isha reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said to me: Get me the mat from the mosque. I said: I am menstruating. Upon this, he remarked: Your menstruation is not in your hand‘
Book 3, Number 0591:
‘A’isha reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) would recline in my lap when I was menstruating, and recite the Qur’an.
Book 3, Number 0577:
‘A’isha reported: When anyone amongst us (amongst the wives of the Holy Prophet) menstruated, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) asked her to tie a waist-wrapper over her (body) and then embraced her’.
There is also the relaxation from fasting during Ramadan for menstruating women. However, there is nothing in the Hadith or the Quran, which lays down the reasoning for such relaxation. Scholars’ interpretation suggests that discharges like that from sex, deliberate vomiting and menstruation weaken the body, which should not be confused with the weakness which is a direct result of fasting, which is the whole purpose of the holy month of Ramadan. Another reasoning behind such relaxation could be a woman. At the same time, menstruating is already physically depleted and hence shouldn’t be burdened further. However, women are expected to make up for the missed fasts, which is not the case when it comes to prayers, that are otherwise mandatory.
Certain Islamic scholars interpret the principles of Islam in a way where they put forth extreme words like forbidden and prohibited concerning menstruation. This very idea of banning something is to say that it is impure and could be penalized. There is a possibility that such interpretation is backed by patriarchal prejudices which could also be the reason behind women experiencing stigma in other Muslim cultures around the world.
What are the experiences of Indian Muslim women?
Some of the crucial questions that one should ask here is, does reality differ? Do Muslim women still face menstrual stigma? Are they shamed for not praying and fasting because they are on their periods? Do they feel, or are they made to feel impure because they are bleeding? What are the typical restrictions on Muslim women? Therefore, I decided to conduct a survey ( sample population was chosen randomly).
Inference:
Although most women are not made to feel impure or are not shamed for not praying or fasting during Ramadan as there are relaxations provided by the religion for menstruating women, one can however still infer that during Ramadan women are either asked to not eat in public or are scared of getting caught while eating (when not fasting). There could be two reasons for it- first being; it is impolite to eat in front of people who might be fasting and the second and most probable one – if caught, it could be excruciating to explain that you are on your period given that in most families the conversation around menstruation is either moderately open or not open at all. When asked about the taboos and restrictions- Most women reported just not being allowed to pray, fast or touch the holy book and so forth.
Even though Islamic principles do not recognize menstruation as a topic of stigma, there is a possibility of Indian Muslim women being subjected to the menstruation taboos, which is a result of being proximate to Indian cultures. Just like there is no caste system in Islam but in South Asian Muslim society, there is a distinction between the elite Ashrafs and subaltern Pasmandas. However, the data does not reflect any such peculiarity, as when respondents were asked about the taboos that their family/community follow, most of them did not report anything beyond not practising religious rituals which has legitimate reasoning from Islam. It also becomes essential to recognize the agency of women not to take up certain tasks when menstruating because either they do not want it, or it is a religious dictate and their faith.
There is a possibility that the results have turned out this way because the sample population age ranged from 15 years to 30 years, from educated upper-middle-class backgrounds. Additionally, more than 75% of respondents were unaware of their caste groups. 20% recognized as Ashraf, and less than 5% were non-Ashraf/Pasmanda/Bahujan Muslims. The limitation of any online survey is that it is challenging to gather responses from non-Ashraf/marginalized Muslim women for a variety of reasons including my sample size, the community the survey was conducted in and other socio-cultural factors.
Conclusion:
Menstruation differs across cultures and religions. It is indeed okay to say that stigma and taboos exist in our society regardless of religion. There is a great need for conversation around periods so that women are not made to feel embarrassed for bleeding so that they can bleed in privacy with dignity and safety.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program