Menstruation: Taboo and truth!!

Speaking in general terms its a biological process that takes place inside the women's body and doesn't make her impure!

A lot of taboos are connected with the term "Menstruation"and are known as menstrual taboos, which includes imposing restrictions on a woman's life and daily chores. In some societies it involves menstruation being perceived as unclean or embarrassing, extending even to the mention of menstruation both in public (in the media and advertising) and in private (amongst the friends, in the household, and with men). Many traditional religions consider menstruation ritually unclean.

All religions have nearly the theories where in this period of time women are considered unclean and usually restricts them from even praying and touching others.

Religious views

Islam

In Islam, a woman is not allowed to offer prayer or to perform other religious activities such as fasting or circumambulating the Kaaba. This is in accordance with the law of the uncleanliness of any blood.  However, she can perform all other acts of social life as normal. According to authentic traditions, Muhammad encouraged menstruating women to be present at festive religious services for the two Eid holidays, although they were excused from praying.

Hinduism

In the Hindu faith, menstruating women generally are allowed to participate in a normal life. However, they are not allowed to go to the temple, or to perform religious rituals.

Only extremist hindus in rural parts of the India and Nepal prohibit women from participating in normal life while menstruating. In these beliefs, a woman must be "purified" before she is allowed to return to her family. Women who are menstruating are also not allowed in the household for a period of three nights. Additionally, contact with menstruating woman is forbidden (with the exception of small children). Chhaupadi is the name of the menstrual related ostracism, now banned, that used to occur in Nepal.

In the Kashmiri Hindu culture, women are not seen as impure during the menstrual cycle; rather, they are given special care during this time as the body of the woman becomes weak due to blood loss.

Sikhism

In Sikhism, woman is given equal status to man and is regarded as pure as man is. The Gurus teach that one cannot be pure by washing his body but purity of mind is the real pureness. They are not called pure, who sit down after merely washing their bodies.Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, condemned the practice of treating women as impure while menstruating.

In Sikhism, the menstrual cycle is not considered a pollutant. Certainly, it can have a physical and physiological effect on the woman. Nonetheless, this is not considered a hindrance to her wanting to pray or accomplish her religious duties fully. The Guru makes it very clear that the menstrual cycle is a God-given process. The blood of a woman is required for the creation of any human being. The requirement of the mother's blood is fundamental for life. Thus, the menstrual cycle is certainly an essential and God-given biological process. In other faiths blood is considered a pollutant. However, the Guru rejects such ideas. Those who are impure from within are the truly impure ones.

Meditating on God's name is of importance. Whether one's clothes are blood-stained or not (including clothes stained from menstrual blood) is not of spiritual importance. Thus, there are no restrictions placed on a woman during her menstruation. She is free to visit a gurdwara, take part in prayers and do Seva. In The Feminine Principle in the Sikh: Vision of the Transcendent, Nikky Guninder Kaur-Singh writes: "The denigration of the female body 'expressed in many cultural and religious taboos surrounding menstruation and childbirth' is absent in the Sikh worldview. ...Guru Nanak openly chides those who attribute pollution to women because of menstruation."

Christianity

Christians throughout history have disagreed about whether menstruation makes a woman unclean. In spite of the restrictions in Leviticus, Jesus allowed himself to be touched by a hemorrhaging woman and cured her (Mark 5:25-24). Some church fathers defended the exclusion of women from ministry based on a notion of uncleanness. Others held that purity laws should be discarded as part of the Old Covenant.

Sikhism is the only religion which tries to create equality and has logically understood the reason behind the unspoken form of restriction on women!

We need to understand that its an entirely biological part of a woman's life and has nothing to do with her cleanliness or morals.

#Satyam_Bruyat