Taking Birth Control Pills to Delay Menstruation Before Performing ʿUmrah

“He is the One who created for you everything that is on the earth.”

Nothing is prohibited except what has been proven to be harmful. There is nothing in the Qur’an or Sunnah that forbids a woman from using medicine to delay menstruation if its consequences are safe.

“Indeed, this is something Allah has decreed for the daughters of Adam.”

However, no text has been reported forbidding the use of means that lead to delaying it, as long as this does not involve anything prohibited or harmful. For this reason, a number of scholars have issued fatwā permitting the use of birth control pills for the purpose of ʿUmrah or Ḥajj, with two conditions: First: The medication must not be harmful. If it results in definite harm or harm that is most likely, then its use becomes prohibited,

“There is to be no harm and no reciprocating harm.”

Second: It must not lead to neglecting an obligatory right, such as the right of the husband. If it affects such a right, then it is not permissible except with his permission. A number of contemporary scholars have explicitly stated this ruling, basing it on the permissibility of seeking medical treatment and on the principle of removing hardship and difficulty especially due to limited travel time and the inability to wait. It is permissible for a woman to take birth control pills before ʿUmrah to delay menstruation, provided she is safe from harm and no prohibited matter results from it. Her ʿUmrah is valid if she is in a state of purity, and there is no sin upon her.