Mubashara with a Menstruating Woman

Question

What is the difference between jima‘ (intercourse) and mubashara? Having looked at the hadiths given in Sahih al-Bukhari in the chapter “Mubashara with a Menstruating Woman” (No. 207), some spiritual guides have begun saying that a person who cannot control his nafs may fulfil his desire by placing a cloth over the private part of a menstruating woman. However, Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi ﵀ wrote in Bihishti Zewar (“Heavenly Ornaments”), citing al-Durr al-Mukhtar (vol. 1, p. 194)

Answer

Everyone knows what jima‘ is; there is nothing obscure about it. Mubashara means bringing skin into contact with skin, and sometimes what is meant by it is bringing the man’s private organ into contact with the woman’s private organ in a state of desire without any barrier, which is also called “gross mubashara” (mubashara fahisha), as stated in Maraqi al-Falah.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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