Does Islam Say That Women Are Menstruating Animals

A response to the doubt: Four animals menstruate: women, hyenas, rabbits, and bats.

[There are four animals that menstruate: women, hyenas, rabbits, and bats.]

Rather, this statement is a statement attributed to its speaker Al-Jahiz in his book Al-Hayawan.

“You have no other way of praying except to abandon it.”

The book Al-Hayawan written by Al-Jahiz is not a religious book in general, but rather a scientific literary book. He composed it and collected some information about the nature of animals.

For your info:
This scan is presented as visual support for the article’s point that the statement about “four animals menstruating” is connected to Al-Jahiz’s Al-Hayawan, not to the Qur’an, not to a prophetic hadith, and not to Islamic creed or law. The purpose of placing the scan here is to show that the discussion belongs to a literary/scientific animal-compendium context, not a religious ruling.

[Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz, the author of many books. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud narrated from him, it is said. Tha’lab said: Al-Jahiz is neither trustworthy nor reliable. I said: He was one of the leaders of innovations.]

[He was one of the crazy, misguided people who was mostly a joker. However, we did not see him deliberately cite a lie in his books to prove it, even though he often cited the lies of others.]

And he says the Messenger of God said and follows it with Al-Jamaaz said and Ismail bin Ghazwan said such and such of the obscenities!

He writes a book in which he mentions the arguments of the Christians against the Muslims, and when he comes to refuting them, he exaggerates in his argument as if he only wants to alert them to what they do not know and to raise doubts among the weak Muslims.

You will find him intending in his books to joke and play around, wanting thereby to attract the youth and wine drinkers.

He mocks the hadith with a mockery that is not hidden from the people of knowledge…

And with this, he is one of the most lying of the nation, the most fabricating of hadith, and the most supportive of falsehood.

He was given eloquence in speech, a sweet eloquence in discourse, and a scope in the arts.

However, the people of knowledge accused him of lying and rejected the truth.

Tha’lab said:

“He was a liar about God, His Messenger, and the people.”

[I said: By God, this is the description of all of Al-Jahiz’s books. Glory be to He who led him astray knowingly… Al-Khatib narrated with his chain of transmission that he did not pray. Ismail bin Muhammad Al-Saffar said: I heard Abu Al-Ayna’ say: “Al-Jahiz and I fabricated the hadith of Fadak and presented it to the sheikhs in Baghdad, and they accepted it except for Ibn Shaybah Al-Alawi, who rejected it and said: This is a lie that Al-Hakim heard from Abd Al-Aziz bin Abd Al-Malik Al-Awar.” I said: “I do not know what he meant by the hadith of Fadak.” Al-Khattabi said: “He was ignorant of his religion.” Abu Al-Faraj Al-Isfahani mentioned that he was accused of heresy and recited poetry about that.]

My grandfather said in Al-Muntazam: His grandfather was black, and he was one of the Mu’tazilite theologians, and a student of Abu Ishaq Al-Nazzam. He said: People are blind to his writings, exaggerating the limit, but that is not the case. Rather, he has good and bad works.

I said: This is a picture of what my grandfather mentioned about him, and he did not mention anything from his works, nor did he recount some of his articles, so I say: As for his works, they are three hundred and sixty works, and I came across most of them in the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa in Baghdad, including the book (The Book of Animals), which is a book full of padding, little benefit, and in it he mentioned that the animals that menstruate are four: women, rabbits, hyenas, and bats.

Al-Jahiz was in the days of Al-Mu’tasim and Al-Mutawakkil, and he was unique from his companions on issues, including his statement: All knowledge is necessary, and none of that is from the actions of servants, and that the servants have no gain other than their will.

And among them is that the people of Hell will not remain eternal, but will become fiery in nature. And his doctrine is the doctrine of the philosophers in denying attributes and the like.]

Here it is☝ Subat Ibn al-Jawzi informing us that Al-Hayawan is a book by Al-Jahiz, and it is a book full of padding and little benefit, and it contains a statement that women are among the animals that menstruate.

The menstruation of hyenas and rabbits is well-known in Arab poetry.

The poet said about the hyena’s menstruation:

“The hyena laughs at the slain of Hudhayl… and you see the wolf wailing at it.”

So the above statement is not from the core of Islam nor from the words of the Prophet, but rather it is the words of Al-Jahiz himself.

[Al-Jahiz said in the Book of Animals: “The animals that menstruate are four: women, rabbits, hyenas, and bats. The menstruation of rabbits and hyenas is well-known in Arab poetry.]

[Al-Jahiz said in the Book of Animals: There are four animals that menstruate: human beings, rabbits, hyenas, and bats.]

[Four animals menstruate: women, hyenas, bats, and rabbits. This was stated by Al-Jahiz.]

[And the animals that menstruate are eight, as Al-Jahiz mentioned, four by consensus, and they are the woman, the rabbit, the hyena, and the bat]

• Al-Nawawi in the book Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa al-Lughat 3/78
• Ibn Al-Raf’ah in the book Kifayat Al-Nabih fi Sharh Al-Tanbih 2/128
• Zakaria Al-Ansari in the book The Most Sublime Demands in Explaining Rawdat Al-Talib 1/99
• Sulayman al-Jamal in the book Futuhat al-Wahhab, explaining the explanation of the students’ approach 1/234
• Muhammad bin Ali bin Adam Al-Athiubi in the book Treasure of the Hereafter in Explanation of Al-Mujtaba 5/375
• Al-Bajuri in the book Tuhfat Al-Habib on Al-Khatib’s explanation 1/340

🔴 All the previous imams indicated that the statement is the statement of Al-Jahiz himself, and he is the one who said that women are among the animals that menstruate.

So, the one who said this is Al-Jahiz, not the Qur’an, the Prophet, or the scholars of Islam.

[In addition to humans, animals that menstruate include: the rabbit, the hyena, the bat, the female camel, the female dog, and the female horse. Its place is only in knowledge.]

The word animal in the Arabic language is taken from the linguistic root of the word life, and the word animal means every creature that has life.

[Animal: any living thing, whether speaking or not]

For your info:
This scan is used to show the lexical meaning of the Arabic word ḥayawān / animal. The highlighted point is that in Arabic linguistic usage, the term can mean any living being, whether speaking or non-speaking. Therefore, the mere use of the word “animal” in this kind of technical or linguistic context does not automatically mean insult, degradation, or calling women beasts.

“Man is a talking animal.”

[The result of these three is the establishment of some parts. An example of the first is that every human is an animal, and every speaking human requires some part of the speaking animal.]

[Among the issues that are not reflected is our saying: Every human being is an animal. This is a true issue.]

[Chapter: What distinguishes one species from another in and of itself. The definition is taken from the genus and the species. An example of this is: the definition of man is that he is a talking animal. So your saying: Animal is the genus.]

It is said that every human is an animal, but not every animal is a human.

[As for that in which the ruling is based on the necessity of proof, it is a necessary affirmation, such as our saying: Every human being is an animal by necessity.]

[The directed proposition whose meaning is either affirmative only, such as when we say, “Every human being is necessarily an animal.”]

It has been proven that man is an animal.

[A simple proposition: whose truth or meaning is either affirmative only, such as: Every human being is necessarily an animal.]

So, the word animal in the Arabic language refers to a human being because he has life in him.

For your info:
This scan is used to support the broader point that modern biological classification also places human beings within the animal kingdom. The article uses this to show that the term “animal” can be descriptive or classificatory, not necessarily insulting. The argument is that opponents are exploiting the emotional English sense of the word while ignoring the Arabic linguistic and classificatory usage.

45 Thus it is also written: “The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

46 But the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.

[The Apostle Paul refers to what is stated in (Genesis 7:2): Adam, then, was dust into which God breathed, and he became a living being. The soul gives life to the body in the present life. Therefore, Adam’s body is alive through the soul, and this is the animal or spiritual body controlled by the powers of the animal soul… If the first Adam gave us an animal body, could not Christ, the Lord, the Giver of Life, give us a spiritual body?]

[An animal body is grown, similar to the animal body in terms of its composition as a body with muscles, bones, nerves, veins, arteries, etc., which have the same functions and have a digestive system that converts food into blood and a respiratory system, etc.]

So, the Bible considers man as an animal being.

“But these, like irrational beasts by nature, born to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of things they do not know and will perish in their corruption.”

“But these speak evil of things they do not know, but like irrational beasts by nature they understand and in these things they will be corrupted.”

“worse than animals”

Menstruating rabbits and women, a hyena and a bat for which there is medicine.

And four more were added to it, so it became eight. Some of them organized it in his saying:

A hyena, a woman, a rabbit, a female camel, a female dog, a bat, a gecko, and a stone menstruate from a living creature.

They came eight, and this is the reliable opinion.

These previous words ☝ are not the words of Ibn Hajar al-Haytami himself, but rather Ibn Hajar al-Haytami is telling us that some people are the ones who said the previous verses of poetry.

“with a soul”

[The animals that menstruate are women, hyenas, bats, and rabbits. It is said that the female dog also menstruates.]

But the previous statement is not from the words of the Prophet, nor from the words of Al-Bukhari, nor from the words of Al-Qastalani.

[There are four animals that menstruate: the woman, the hyena, the bat, and the rabbit. It is said that the female dog is also like that.]

The original manuscript of the book does not contain the phrase [the animals are four], but rather this addition is from the printing press itself.

The rabbit is an animal that resembles a rabbit, with short arms and long legs, as big as a giraffe. This is stated in The Life of Animals.

[And the animals that menstruate include: women, hyenas, bats, rabbits, and it is also said: the female dog, and it is also said: the female camel and the gecko, as stated in “al-Qastalani” (12/284), and the author of “Hayat al-Hayawan” was satisfied with the first four. [See: “Hayat al-Hayawan” (1/29)]

The words are taken from the words of Al-Jahiz, the author of The Book of Animals, and Al-Sahnafuri himself indicated that the quote is the words of Al-Jahiz himself.

[Some of them gathered the ten menstruating animals by saying: Menstruation comes to women and nine. … They are the camels, their hyenas, the rabbit. The gecko, the bat, the female dog. … The weasel and the snakes are counted among them. Some added: thick and trembling. … So remember, for in remembering the equivalents there is desire.]

The above statement is not from Al-Tahtawi himself, but from unknown people.

[Some of them gathered the menstruating animals]

[There are eight animals that menstruate. Scholars have stated that there are eight animals that menstruate: women, hyenas, bats, rabbits, dogs, horses, female camels, and geckos.]

But Al-Safarini did not mean that religious scholars and jurisprudents said that, but rather that biologists were the ones who said that.

They walk on the ground on the backs of their legs.

It is a generic name for both males and females.

The male is called khazaz, and its plural is khuzzan, like surd and sirdan.

The female is called ikrisha.

The khirnaq is the offspring of the rabbit. It is first a khirnaq, then a sakhla, then a hare.

The penis of the male of this species is like that of the male fox; one part is a bone and the other a nerve.

The female may mount the male during mating due to her natural heat, and she may mate while pregnant.

This is mentioned in the chapter on the life of animals.

It was mentioned that the rabbit is male one year and female the next. This is what he said, and God knows best.

Benefit: Rabbits menstruate, and from this is the poet’s saying:

And the laughter of rabbits on the rock… is like the blood of war on the day of encounter.

Eight menstruating animals.

Scholars have mentioned that eight menstruating animals are: women, hyenas, bats, rabbits, dogs, and horses. And the camel, and the gecko.

Here, Al-Safarini provides vital information about rabbits, and this information has nothing to do with Islamic jurisprudence.

the woman, the bat, then the rabbit… the fourth hyena, then the garage.

And in the book “Al-Hayawan” he mentions Al-Jahiz: I quote from him what is not denied.]

(The woman is the bat, then the rabbit *** and the hyena is the fourth, then the fourth)

(and in the book of animals it is mentioned *** by al-Jahiz, quote from him what is not denied)]

But the previous words are not from the words of Ibn Al-Imad Al-Hanbali, nor from the words of Shams Al-Din Al-Sakhawi, nor from the words of Abdul Latif bin Ahmed Al-Sarraj, but from the words of Al-Jahiz himself.

[And in the Book of Animals it is mentioned by Al-Jahiz. Quote from him what is not denied.]

These words are the words of Al-Jahiz himself, as Abdul Latif bin Siraj indicated in the verse.

[K: … and the animals that menstruate include women, hyenas, bats, and rabbits. It was also said: the female dog, the female camel, and the gecko.]

[K - Al-Karmani has his explanation, and it may be Al-Qastalani’s due to the mixing of their materials]

So, this is not the words of Al-Fattani himself, but he took it from Al-Qastalani’s book.

[And the animals that menstruate are four: the woman, the hyena, the rabbit, and the bat.]

It is said that if it sees the sea, it dies, and that is why it is not found on the coasts. I do not believe this. The Arabs claim, in their lies, that the jinn flee from it because of the place where it menstruates: The poet said:

The laughter of rabbits on the rock … is like the blood of war on the day of encounter.

Benefit: Four animals menstruate: the woman, the hyena, the bat, and the rabbit. It is said that the dog is also like that.]

The above statement is exactly what Al-Jahiz said, and is not an invention of Al-Damri himself.

Al-Sakhawi said in Al-Daw’ Al-Lami’: (He has additions to it that are not found in all the copies, and it was thought that it contains what is in it that is infiltrated by someone other than him, if not all of them, because of what it contains of anomalies, and some of them have stripped them away, rather Al-Taqi Al-Fasi abridged the original in the year 22, and pointed out important things that the original needs.)]

We cannot know whether Al-Damri actually quoted this paragraph or not.

Al-Damri mentioned in Hayat al-Hayawan that the animals that menstruate are women, hyenas, bats, and rabbits. It is said that the same applies to female dogs.

Al-Damri’s book is distorted and we cannot be sure whether Al-Damri actually said that or not.

The Holy Quran indicates that men and women are two beings linked to each other and have the same origin.

[Al-A’raf 189]

[Al Imran 3:195]

[An-Nisa’ 124]

There I have completely refuted the doubt.

It is attributed to Al-Jahiz in Al-Hayawan, a literary/scientific animal book, and later scholars only quoted it as transmitted information, not as a religious ruling.