May I ask how you would answer one accusation which is sometimes made against Islam? One of the forms I’ve heard it in is, are women religiously unclean after having given birth to a child or for how long? Would you repeat the last bit? It is said by some that in certain periods women are religiously unclean according to Islam. During periods? During menstruation or otherwise? I’ve had the question for how long are they unclean after giving birth to a child?
After giving birth to a child? You know this word unclean is a very uncouth word which I don’t like at all. There is nothing unclean about the ladies who are truly Muslims and who lead a pious life. The Prophet has himself described this aspect, najas, which is unclean. Najas is the right word which can be translated as unclean and a Muslim can never be najas. So unfortunately perhaps this word has been so wrongly translated that the western world has created a different picture from what it is in reality.
To stop someone from saying prayer could have other reasons and it is not the uncleanliness at all. It is a physical indisposition and when you translate this as such then there is no objection whatsoever. Then this is exactly the reality. The Holy Quran itself has explained this. The Holy Quran mentions that they ask you about the periods, the menstruation of ladies. Tell them it is a sort of illness or indisposition and the answer is not that it is najas. So after that for a Muslim or for a non-Muslim to conceive of these special phases of ladies life to be phases of uncleanliness is totally wrong. It has no ground in Islam.
