And I heard Ishaq - another time - saying: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spoke sternly regarding the one who has intercourse with a menstruating woman, saying: 'Whoever approaches a menstruating woman has disbelieved.' There are two possible meanings for this statement:

• The first of the two meanings: It refers to deeming the act of having intercourse with her during her menstruation as lawful (istihlal). If the meaning of his statement is this, then the scholars have reached a consensus on the disbelief of such a person.

• It is possible that it bears another meaning: that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) intended it for one who treats the matter lightly—even if he considers it forbidden.

As for that which is certain, it is the first meaning, and the other meaning is feared. Thus, if one does it out of trivialization and contempt, he has committed the forbidden and acted audaciously against Allah; however, we do not act audaciously in declaring him a disbeliever, because we have explained that the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has multiple meanings.

Among the proofs that the one who treats it lightly is not a disbeliever is that which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded regarding the expiation (kaffarah) for one who has intercourse with a woman while she is menstruating. In this, there is evidence that if he were to make disbelief mandatory for approaching her—while the person believes it is forbidden—he would not have ordered him to perform an expiation as well.

As for what those people said—that there is no expiation for one who approaches his wife while she is menstruating—it is an error, due to what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) established as Sunnah in this regard. In what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) clarified in this matter is that which scholars ought to aspire to, because expiation for sins is lighter than sins for which there is no expiation. Even if no Sunnah had been decided in this matter, it would have been incumbent upon the scholar to be cautious and command the person to give charity, so that he may draw closer to Allah, and for it to be an expiation for him. How then, when he rejects what has come from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the scholars of knowledge have adopted it? As for those among the Successors (al-Tabi'in) who did not hold this view, they indeed acknowledged: 'We do not know of any expiation for this.' The argument is only against those who have knowledge, although even if they had not said 'we do not know of any expiation for this,' the assumption regarding them would have been that they would follow it once they heard it. It is strange that someone who sees the scholars of the Successors as peers in discourse says: 'If they state something and I do not see their opinion, then I am entitled to disagree with them,' yet he then uses them as an argument when the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is mentioned."