Taking Medication to Delay Menstruation

Is it permissible for a woman to take medication in order to delay her monthly period so that she is able to perform the Hajj rites, for example?

Yes, this is permissible for her. The great jurist of Yemen, Ibn Ziyad, said in Talkhis Fatawa (p. 247), “The upshot of what can be found in the legal responses of Qammat is that it is permissible to use medication to prevent the onset of the monthly period.”

 

[Translator’s Notes:

 

1. All of the Hajj rites may be validly performed by a menstruating woman with the sole exception of circumambulating the Ka`ba (tawaf).

 

2. The answer above assumes that taking such medication is not likely to cause significant harm.]

السؤال: هل يجوز للمرأة أن تأخذ دواءً يؤخر الحيض (الدورة الشهرية) لأجل الحج مثلاً؟

الجواب: نعم يجوز لها ذلك، ففي "تلخيص فتاوى" العلامة ابن زياد اليمني (ص247) ما نصه:" وفي "فتاوى" القَمّاط ما حاصله جوازُ استعمال دواء لمنع الحيض ". اهـ