Islamic Perpective

As-Salaamu-Alaikum

Many times we hear of women who have given birth have to remain at home for 40 days. What is / was the significance behind this?

Does a women have to be indoors for 40 days after giving birth? There is no law that she has to remain indoors for a certain amount of days after giving birth, whether cesarean section or normal birth.

There is a superstition among people that after birth a woman has to remain indoors for forty days. This is not a law of Islam.

The forty day period is the maximum flow of blood after birth that a woman can experience, according to the Hanafi math-hab. Sometimes the blood can stop before forty days. Even during this period the woman is allowed to come out of the home.

Questions answered by the Ulama of askmufti.co.za