Discover the meaning of the term Al-āʾsa (آئسة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThe feminine of al-a'is, from 'asa, reversed from ya'is; it is not a deviation in language, said Ibn Sidah; its meaning: his hope was cut off. Al-a'isa: the woman whose menstruation has ceased from old age. The scholars estimated the age of menopause at fifty years, or fifty-five, or sixty.
Al-Ahmad Bakri said: the preferred position in our time, according to what is in (the work) 'az-Zahid', is fifty years, and the criterion in this is prevailing custom. (Lisan al-'Arab, entry a'ys, 1/190; al-Qurtubi's tafsir 10/6641 and following; at-Tafsir al-Munir li-ma'alim at-tanzil by an-Nawawi al-Jawi, with its appendix al-Wajiz fi tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Aziz by Abu al-Hasan al-Wahidi 2/383; Dastur al-'Ulama' 1/16; at-Ta'rifat, p. 35.)
The feminine of al-a'is. The woman whose menstruation has ceased from old age. With the Malikis: the woman between fifty and seventy years, whose menopause is uncertain.
With the Hanafis: the one whose hope of seeing blood has ceased, having reached an age at which her peers do not menstruate; or: the one who has not menstruated for a period of fifty-five years. With the Shafi'is: the one who has reached sixty-two years; or: the one who has reached the age at which the women of her class are menopausal. With the Hanbalis: the one who has reached fifty years and whose menstruation has ceased several times against its habit without cause.
With the Ja'faris: the one who has reached sixty years from the beginning of her birth.