Masa'il Tahlil al-Ha'id min al-Ihram
- Author died
- 738 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah lil-Tiba'ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi'
Masa'il Tahlil al-Ha'id min al-Ihram (Rulings on Releasing the Menstruating Woman from Ihram) is a legal treatise dictated by the Shafi'i jurist and judge Ibn al-Barizi (d. 738 AH / 1338 CE) addressing the rulings governing a female pilgrim who menstruates before performing the obligatory Tawaf al-Ifadah and cannot remain in Mecca after the departure of her caravan.
Background and Purpose
Ibn al-Barizi composed the work after a widespread incident during the pilgrimage season of 707 AH (1307–1308 CE), when many women among the notables and commoners faced the onset of menstruation prior to performing the pillar circumambulation (Tawaf al-Ifadah). Because their travel caravans were leaving and could not delay their departure, the women feared remaining indefinitely bound by the prohibitions of ihram—especially regarding the prohibition of marital relations and marriage—and sought legal dispensations to alleviate their distress. Ibn al-Barizi framed his response around the principle of seeking ease for the worshipers and established that it is permissible for a layperson to follow (taqlid) any of the four Sunni legal schools on specific questions rather than adhering strictly to a single school in all matters.
Contents and Legal Reasoning
The treatise divides the affected women into four categories:
- Intermittent bleeding with medication: Women whose bleeding ceased for a day or more after using medication, leading them to perform the ritual bath and circumambulation, after which bleeding resumed during their regular menstrual period.
- Intermittent bleeding without medication: Women whose bleeding stopped for a day or more naturally, after which they bathed and circumambulated before the bleeding returned.
- Circumambulation during active bleeding: Women who performed tawaf before the cessation of bleeding and without a ritual bath.
- Departure before circumambulation: Women who traveled away with their caravan prior to Tawaf al-Ifadah, having previously performed the arrival circumambulation (Tawaf al-Qudum) and the subsequent sa'y.
For the first two categories, Ibn al-Barizi ruled that their circumambulation was valid according to one position in the Shafi'i school—the doctrine of piecing together days of purity (talfiq), authenticated by authorities such as Abu Hamid al-Mahamili and al-Ruyani—as well as under the doctrines of Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. For the third category, he noted that their circumambulation was valid according to Abu Hanifa and one narration from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, though the woman incurs sin for entering the mosque while menstruating and is obligated to slaughter a camel (badanah).
For the fourth category, he cited a transmission by Egyptian Malikis from Malik, recorded by Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Maliki in al-Minhaj fi Manasik al-Hajj, stating that one who performs the arrival circumambulation and sa'y and returns home before Tawaf al-Ifadah out of ignorance or forgetfulness has fulfilled the obligation; Ibn al-Barizi derived from this that an excused menstruating woman possesses an even clearer excuse. If that position is not applied, he argued according to the principles of the Shafi'i school that once she travels far enough that returning to Mecca poses danger to her person or property, she assumes the status of a prevented person (muhsar); she may then exit ihram by intending release, sacrificing a sheep, and cutting her hair, while the obligatory Hajj remains an unfulfilled duty to be repeated in a future year.
Reception
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami cited and summarized Ibn al-Barizi's discussion in his supercommentary on al-Nawawi's al-Idah fi Manasik al-Hajj. Ibn Hajar recorded that al-Yafi'i criticized Ibn al-Barizi for ostensibly permitting a menstruating woman to travel before Tawaf al-Ifadah, viewing it as contrary to established texts such as the hadith regarding Safiyyah bint Huyayy. Ibn Hajar defended Ibn al-Barizi, clarifying that he did not declare her initial departure lawful, but rather explained the procedure for releasing herself from ihram once she had already traveled and her return became impossible. Ibn Hajar also cited Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini, Wali al-Din al-Iraqi, and Sharaf al-Din al-Munawi as endorsing the legal derivation that such a traveler is treated as a muhsar.
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscripts of the treatise are preserved in the private collection of the editor Nizam Muhammad Salih Ya'qubi, the New York Public Library, and Princeton University Library within the Yahuda collection. The text was edited by Nizam Muhammad Salih Ya'qubi and published in Beirut by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in 1421 AH (2000 CE) as part of the Liqa' al-Ashr al-Awakhir bi-al-Masjid al-Haram publication series.
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