Normally, a woman will experience a menstrual cycle or menstruation that lasts between 21-35 days. Menstruation occurs when the thickened uterine lining to prepare for pregnancy eventually sheds because there is no fertilization process during the cycle.
Bleeding that comes out of the vagina is dirty blood. This situation makes women who are menstruating in an impure state.
Therefore, in Islam, Muslim women who are menstruating are prohibited from performing certain acts of worship, such as prayer, fasting, tawaf, and so on.
This is as written in the hadith narrated by Aisyah RA,
"'Why do menstruating women make up the fast and not make up the prayer?' So Aisha replied, 'Are you from the Haruriyah group?' I replied, 'I'm not Haruriyah, but I'm just asking'. He replied, 'We were also menstruating before, so we were ordered to make up the fast and not to make up the prayer.'" (HR Muslim).
Based on the above hadith, it is legal for a menstruating woman not to pray and fast, be it Ramadan fasting or sunnah fasting. If it is still carried out, then the fast is not accepted by Allah SWT. It's just that they are obliged to replace the fast at another time, while for prayer there is no obligation to replace the prayer.
However, what happens if the period comes when we are fasting in the middle or at the end of the day?
A woman who is menstruating must break her fast, even though it will soon be time to break her fast.
He also has to make up his fast on other days after the month of Ramadan, according to Islamic provisions.
In conclusion, even if menstruation comes near the time of sunset, the person is automatically invalidated and needs to replace his fast on another day.
Eits, there are important notes that you need to remember too. Menstruation is a biological destiny given by Allah SWT to women. Although it is not permissible to pray and fast, there are still many other forms of practice and worship that Muslim women can do during menstruation.
So, it does not mean that the value of women's worship in the month of Ramadan is less than that of men.