My aunt taught me the rulings connected with menstrual periods. Among what I’ve learned is changing all my clothes that I was wearing when the period had come, even if the blood did not touch it. Is that true?

        Praise be to Allah. May His Blessings and Peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad.

Jurists have agreed that menstrual blood is impure and harmful. Allah said, "And they ask you about menstruation. Say, 'It is harm,". (Qur'an, 2:222) ˁĀˀishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Fatimah daughter of Abu Hubaysh came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said, 'I am a woman whose blood keeps flowing [even after the menstruation period comes to its end). I am never purified; should I, therefore, abandon prayer?' He (the Prophet, pbuh) said, 'Not at all, for that is only a vein bleeding, not a menstruation. So, when menstruation comes, abandon prayer, and when it ends wash the blood from yourself and then pray'".

Asmāˀ (daughter of Abu Bakr) reported that "a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and asked, 'What should one do if the blood of menses smears her garment? He (pbuh) replied, 'She should scrape it, rub it with water, pour water over it and then offer prayer in it'". That is, pour water over her garment, rub blood off it, and squeeze it till the stain is fully removed.                                                

His saying (pbuh), "And then pray" indicates that the garment in which prayer is forbidden is what has been stained with menstrual blood; That is because the Prophet (pbuh) prevented women from praying in the garment that was touched by the menstrual blood. It indicates that purification of the garment is a condition for the validity of prayer. Accordingly, the garment that was not affected by menstruation blood is considered pure, due to its original state of cleanliness. In that case, prayer is deemed valid.

As for what you’ve learned from your aunt, it has no evidence and is thus not correct. A woman is not prevented from wearing clothes she was wearing at the time of her menstruation. If you want to pray, then your garment must be clean. If your garment has been touched with some of the menstrual blood, you must wash it first.

That is supported by the hadith narrated by ˁĀˀishah: “Whenever anyone of us would be in her menses, then, on becoming clean, she would detect the blood in the stained spot, rub it off her garment, pour water over it to wash that portion thoroughly and sprinkle water over the rest of the garment. After that she would pray in it”.