Praise be to Allah,
Menopause is the time that marks the end of your menstrual cycles. It’s diagnosed after you’ve gone 12 months without a menstrual period. Menopause can happen in your 40s or 50s, but the average age is 51 in the United States[i].
Scholars view on minimum and maximum age of menstruation
According to the madhab of Imam Ahmad, the age of despair is fifty. There are two other opinions in the madhab regarding this matter. One opinion is that the age is sixty. A third viewdoes not demarcate any age. However, the first, that the age is fifty, is that which is well known (mashur).
The earlier Hanafis, sha’fis( May Allah have mercy on them) says there is no limit[ii].
At-Tamartashi -one of the Hanafi scholars – defined the age of menopause as fifty. He said, “This is what is relied upon and the fatwa during our time is based on this.” However, many other scholars define it as fifty-five years.
Supporting evidence:
‘Aishah said, “When a girl reaches nine years of age, she is a grown woman”[iii].
However, this does not mean in any way that the minimum is nine years of age for puberty.
Thus the scholars differed concerning menopause in women. Some of them said that it occurs at the age of fifty years or sixty years. The correct view is that there is no limit to it and it may vary from one woman to another.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Women vary; some reach menopause at an early age, and some continue menstruating until after the age of sixty or seventy. If a woman sees menses then she is a menstruating woman, no matter what her situation is, because Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses” [al-Talaaq 65:4], and He did not mention any particular age. So menopause differs from one woman to another.
To sum up, menses is, as Allah described it, an adha (harm, illness, painful condition). When this bleeding occurs, she has to do what is required. End quote[iv].
The noble Shaikh further says,
“ the one who has bleeding in the normal manner, her blood is that of a true menstruation, according to the most correct opinion, since there is no maximum age limit of menstruation. So based upon this, well known rulings of menstruation blood are confirmed for her blood, such as abstaining from prayer, fasting and so on…..all this is according to the correct opinion which is that there is no maximum age limit for it. But according to the madhab of imam Ahamd, there is no menstruation after fifty years, and if the blood is normal, dark then she must fast and pray and she should not perform Ghusl when it stops, however this opinion is incorrect[v].
Imam Al-Daarimee concluded that: “to me all are wrong, because the criteria should be the presence or absence of the released blood regardless of the age period, and therefore this type of blood should be considered as Haid, and Allah Knows best.” What Al-Daarimee said is the correct position and this is also the choice of Shayekul Islam Ibn Taymeeyah. Accordingly, when the woman sees the menstrual blood then she is in an actual state of Haid even though she may be less than nine or more than fifty years old. This is because Allah and His Messenger (SAAW) made the rule for Haid effective only when Haid is present and according to these rules there was no mention of a certain age for the commencing or ending of Haid. Hence, specifying an age period requires an evidence from Qur’an and Sunnah and this is not available”[vi].
Conclusion
We can conclude that there is no minimum or maximum age limit for menstruation. the opinions re mostly based on personal experiences. in our times, a woman must see a physician when available and if she is told it is menstruation then it is. Allah Knows Best.
[i] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menopause/symptoms-causes/syc-20353397
[ii] Fiqh of Worship, Commentary on ‘Umdat al-Fiqh (The Reliable Source of Fiqh), Commentary and translation by:
Dr.Hatem al-Haj, page- 90
[iii] This comment was mentioned by al-Tirmdhl at the conclusion of hadith 1109. Al-Bayhaql did likewise in his book al-Sunan al-Kubra (1/319). – quoted in A Commentary On Zad Al-Mustaqni, Salih Fauzan Al-Fawzan, Vol- 1, page 156
[iv] Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb by Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 12/123
[v] Fatawa Arkan-ul-Islam: Islamic Verdicts on the Pillars of Islam, Shaikh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Uthaimeen, Vol 1- page 365
[vi] NATURAL BLOOD OF WOMEN By Shayekh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Utheimeen, Page 5