Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

Question Regarding Lesson 07

Q
Could you please explain the following passage from Nail Al-Ma'arib with regards to the rulings regarding women:
It is permissible for a man to take medicine that is lawful (not haram) that inhibits intercourse, (such as camphor and the like), and for a woman to drink it (meaning: lawful medicine to cause a miscarriage and) to cause hayd or inhibit it (and in the Iqna`': as long as there is no fear of harm. It is not possible to take medicine that causes sterilization. It is unlawful for anyone to give her medicine that inhibits hayd without her knowledge… (Nail Al-Ma'arib bi Sharh Dalil Al- Talib (1: 111))
Thank you.

A
It is permissible for a woman to drink medicine is lawful for her to use (not stolen, not filthy) to cause a miscarriage during the first forty (40) days of pregnancy.

It is also permissible for her to take medicine that causes her to have a period or inhibits it provided that there is no fear of injury. This ruling is asked about quite a bit, particularly when women make Hajj or `Umrah, or regarding contraception. Some books say that stopping her period is associated with her ability to conceive, hence the last ruling: that it is unlawful to give her medicine that inhibits her period without her knowing since this has a relationship with her ability to become pregnant.

Finally: It is not permissible to take medicine that completely inhibits the ability to conceive. This also includes surgical procedures like hysterectomies, tieing the fallopian tubes, vasectomies, and castration. But this is when the intention is to inhibit pregnancy itself; obviously when it is done for the sake of health it is another matter.

And Allah knows best.

wa al-salamu `alaykum
--musa