There is nothing wrong in concluding the marriage contract during a woman’s menses, though a husband cannot have sexual intercourse with his wife during this period. As for divorce, it is subject to debate among Muslim jurists. Some scholars see that divorce during the menses is not valid, while others regard it as a valid divorce. Anyway, Shari`ah does not encourage divorce during the period.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: “There is absolutely no basis for the belief that a woman cannot get married while she has her monthly period. It is definitely a misconception, and, as such, it has no support in authentic Islamic beliefs or practices. While a woman is permitted to get married during her monthly period, her husband is not permitted to have sexual intercourse with her during that time. But there is absolutely no ban on him to have any other forms of intimate relationship with her. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to have intimate relations (i.e. except sexual intercourse) with his wife `A’ishah during her period, as she herself has related to us in the Hadith. `A’ishah transmitted such details of her relationship with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for us only with the specific intent of providing essential religious knowledge that such activities are permissible between husband and wife during menstruation.
Rules of divorce, however, are different from that of marriage. While marriage can validly take place when a woman is menstruating, divorce cannot be pronounced during that time. In order for divorce to be valid, it is necessary that she purifies herself after her period has expired, and her husband abstains from sexual relationship with her, and then he pronounces divorce with the proper intention of affecting it.”