In Islam we are not allowed to engage in sexual intercourse with our wives during their monthly periods. Allah says, “They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness. So do not cohabit (i.e. engage in sexual intercourse) with women until they are clean. Then go into them as Allah has enjoined you.” (Al-Baqarah: 222)
Thus, the husband has to abstain from having sex with his wife as long as there is menstrual bleeding.
However, if the wife assures that the blood has stopped and her period is over, then she has to perform ghusl before she has intercourse with her husband or resumes offering Prayer and fasting.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: “According to the majority of scholars and jurists, sexual intercourse is not permissible except after ghusl following the cessation of menstruation. There is, however, a minority who considers it permissible if she has cleaned herself.
The generally accepted view among scholars is that no sexual intercourse is permissible with one’s wife after menstruation unless she has fully purified herself through ghusl. If, however, she is unable to use water because she is sick or water is not available, then she is allowed to resort to tayammum (dry ablution), after which they are allowed to have relations. This group of scholars bases its opinion on the following verse of the Qur’an: “They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness. So do not cohabit (i.e. engage in sexual intercourse) with women until they are clean. Then go into them as Allah has enjoined you.” (Al-Baqarah: 222).
According to the first group of scholars, purification mentioned in the above verse denotes nothing but a complete bath; the second group, however, objects to this interpretation and says that there is no reason to take it in this narrow sense as purification includes both major and minor ablutions as well as washing oneself with water. And hence washing the private parts can also be referred to as purification. The most vocal defender of the latter view is Imam Ibn Hazm.
Based on what has been stated above, according to the first group, sexual intercourse (after menses) with one’s spouse is permissible only after a complete bath, but according to the latter group it is permissible if she has cleaned herself.
To conclude: The first view is the most preferred view to follow since it is safest; but at the same time, to be fair and objective, we cannot fault a husband, who, because of necessity, had relations with his wife after she washed herself following cessation of menstruation. May Allah inspire us to be just and fair in our judgments. Ameen.”