Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Is it permissible for a female student of knowledge to recite Qur’an during her period?
The position of our school is that it is prohibited for a menstruating woman and someone in post-sexual impurity (Ar. janaba) to recite Qur’an with the intention of study. It is permissible for them to recite Qur’an if they don’t intend study, such as if they merely intend remembrance of Allah (Ar. dhikr), protection from the Devil, or the like. Even if a person in post-sexual impurity or menstruation were to recite the entire Qur’an without the intention of study, it would be permissible. (Mughni, 1.72) So when a menstruating woman needs to recite the Qur’an, she should read it with without the intention of study, such as, for example, by intending protection. This is a legal workaround according to our imams.
It is also prohibited for a menstruating woman and someone in post-sexual impurity to touch or carry the Qur’an, even if it is for other than study. However, it is permissible for them to carry a Qur’an with tafsir intermixed with the verses or in the margins if the number of words of the tafsir is more [m: than the words of the Qur’an], such as the tafsir of Al-Jalalayn. [1] The Malikis permit a menstruating woman to touch the Qur’an if she is a teacher or student, as is mentioned in their reliable books.
– Amjad Rasheed
[Translated by Moustafa Elqabbany]
Notes
[m: 1. This refers to printings of Al-Jalalayn where the number of words of tafsir are in fact more than the words of the Qur’an. Many modern printings include the complete text of the Qur’an as the main part of the page with the tafsir in the margins. Because Al-Jalalayn is a brief tafsir, such printings do not satisfy the criterion mentioned and cannot be touched or carried by a menstruating woman or someone in post-sexual impurity.]