Issue: Regarding coming to menstruating women before they have bathed; and what Abu Hanifa meant when he said: "If bleeding has stopped for less than ten days, intercourse with her is not permissible until she has bathed, but if her bleeding has stopped for ten days, intercourse with her is permissible before bathing"; and are the Imams in agreement over this?
The answer: Now the teaching of legal scholars, including Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad, does not permit intercourse with them until they have bathed, as the Most High has said: { Do not draw near to them until they have purified themselves; and when they have purified themselves come to them where Allah has ordered you } [Al-baqara 222].
At the same time, Abu Hanifa permits intercourse with them if most of the menstruation has stopped, or the time of prayer has come to them and they have washed; this is indicated by what the majority say, other than the Qur'an and the hadith.