Perimenopause: A Spiritual Journey for Muslim Women

By Mubarakah "Fit Muslimah" Ibrahim

You've noticed the changes. The stubborn weight around your middle that wasn't there six months ago. The exhaustion after prayers that never used to plague you. The mood swings that make you question your patience as a mother, wife, and believer.

You're not losing your mind or your faith—you're experiencing perimenopause. And while Western medicine might only address the hormonal chaos happening in your body, as Muslim women, we understand that our physical and spiritual experiences are deeply intertwined.

The Science Behind Your Shifting Body

Let's get scientific first (because knowledge is power, and I know you high-achieving s demand evidence).

Perimenopause typically begins in your 40s, though for some women, especially those with certain health conditions or genetic predispositions, it can start in your late 30s. During this transition, your ovaries gradually produce less estrogen, creating a hormonal rollercoaster that affects virtually every system in your body.

Here's what's really happening when you gain weight during perimenopause:

1. Insulin resistance intensifies. As estrogen declines, your cells become less responsive to insulin, leading your body to store more fat, especially around your abdomen.
2. Muscle mass naturally decreases, lowering your basal metabolic rate. This means you burn fewer calories at rest than you did a decade ago.
3. Stress hormones rise, triggering your body's ancient survival mechanism to store energy (as fat) for perceived threats.
4. Sleep quality deteriorates, disrupting hunger hormones and increasing cravings for quick energy (hello, carb cravings after Asr prayer!).

The result? Weight gain that seems to defy your usual eating patterns and exercise routines.

The Spiritual Dimension: Testing of Sabr and Tawakkul

Now, let's talk about what your medical doctor won't tell you—how these physical changes connect to your spiritual journey.

In Surah Al-Baqarah (2:155), Allah SWT tells us: "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient."

Perimenopause can be understood as one such test—one that affects the very vessel Allah has entrusted to you for worship and good deeds.

When your body changes in ways beyond your control, it challenges your:

• Tawakkul (trust in Allah): Can you accept these changes as part of Allah's divine plan?
• Sabr (patience): Can you respond to physical discomfort with grace?
• Gratitude: Can you still be thankful for your body's incredible journey?

When you struggle to focus during salah because of hot flashes, or when fatigue makes your Quran recitation more difficult, these aren't just physical inconveniences—they're spiritual invitations to deepen your relationship with Allah through new challenges.

Where Body and Soul Intersect: Reframing Symptoms as Divine Invitations

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and actions." (Muslim)

While this hadith reminds us that our worth isn't in our physical appearance, it doesn't mean we should neglect the body Allah has entrusted to us. In fact, understanding your changing body during perimenopause becomes a pathway to spiritual growth itself.

What if every perimenopausal symptom isn't a burden but a blessing—Allah calling you closer, not pushing you away?

Brain Fog: The Gateway to Mindful Worship

That moment in salah when you suddenly forget which rakat you're on—something that never happened before. The verse from Surah Ya-Sin that you've recited flawlessly since childhood now escaping your mind mid-prayer. The struggle to maintain khushoo (focus) during worship when your thoughts scatter like leaves in the wind.

These aren't just hormonal inconveniences. They're divine invitations to develop a more intentional, present relationship with your ibadah.

When your memory falters during prayer, you're forced to slow down, to be fully aware of each movement, each word. No longer can you recite on autopilot while your mind wanders to dinner preparations or work deadlines. Now, you must be fully present—and isn't presence the very essence of worship?

The Quran tells us: "Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers" (23:1-2). Perhaps brain fog is Allah's way of teaching us this humility. When you can no longer rely on memorization alone, you must engage with the meaning behind the words. When you lose track of which rakat you're on, you become more conscious of the physical acts of worship.

Many great scholars teach that true khushoo comes not from perfect execution but from heart-centered intention. Your brain fog might be frustrating when trying to recall a hadith during halaqah, but during salah, it strips away performance and leaves only sincerity in its wake.

This challenge becomes an opportunity to develop what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ described when he said: "Worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, know that He sees you." (Bukhari)

Insomnia: The Night Call to Intimate Prayer

Those nights when sleep eludes you—tossing and turning while the world sleeps—hold a secret invitation. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer" (Muslim).

Your insomnia can transform from a source of frustration to a divine appointment. Allah says in the Quran: "And during part of the night, pray Tahajjud as an additional prayer: your Lord may raise you to a station of praise and glory" (17:79).

Is it coincidence that many perimenopausal women find themselves awake during the final third of the night—precisely when our beloved Prophet taught us Allah descends to the lowest heaven asking, "Who is asking Me so that I may give to them? Who is calling upon Me so that I may answer them? Who is seeking My forgiveness so that I may forgive them?"

While young mothers are awakened by crying children and professional women by work stress, you are awakened by your changing hormones—a biological alarm clock that coincides with the most blessed hours for prayer. Could there be wisdom in this timing?

When you shift your perspective from "I can't sleep" to "I've been invited to a special audience with my Creator," insomnia becomes not a curse but a privilege—a chance to develop a prayer life of intimacy and depth that your busy daytime schedule never permitted.

Anxiety: The Path to Deeper Tawakkul

The inexplicable worry and anxiety that often accompanies perimenopause can feel overwhelming. Your heart races over small matters; your mind catastrophizes situations that once wouldn't have fazed you.

Yet this very anxiety becomes your path to a deeper relationship with Al-Wakil (The Trustee). Allah tells us: "And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He will suffice him" (65:3).

Each anxious moment becomes a choice point and a training ground: Will you grasp tighter for control or surrender more completely to Allah's plan? Will you feed the anxiety with worldly remedies alone, or will you turn it into a spiritual practice of releasing your grip?

The Quran says: "Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured" (13:28). Your perimenopausal anxiety gives you countless daily opportunities to test this promise, to remember Allah and feel your heart settle in response.

Many spiritual masters throughout Islamic history have taught that anxiety is not an obstacle to spiritual growth but a catalyst for it—forcing us to confront our illusion of control and teaching us true reliance on Allah. Your perimenopausal anxiety may be the very thing that leads you to a tawakkul you could never have achieved in the certainty of youth.

Hot Flashes: The Inner Fire of Transformation

Those sudden waves of heat that leave you flushed and perspiring aren't just hormonal surges—they're moments of intense physical awareness that can become gateways to spiritual presence.

In many spiritual traditions, heat and fire symbolize purification and transformation. Just as gold is refined by fire, perhaps your spirit is being refined through these intense physical experiences. Each hot flash becomes a moment to practice being fully present in your body—a sacred vessel entrusted to you by Allah—rather than living perpetually in your thoughts.

When a hot flash arrives during prayer, it grounds you in the physical reality of worship—reminding you that ibadah is not an abstract mental exercise but an embodied experience involving heart, mind, AND body. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught us prayer positions that engage our physical forms, knowing that spiritual transformation happens through our bodies, not despite them.

Mood Shifts: Embracing the Full Spectrum of Creation

The emotional oscillations of perimenopause—from tears to laughter to irritation within minutes—can be disorienting and challenging. Yet they also connect you to the full spectrum of human experience that Allah created and acknowledged.

The Quran does not portray prophets and righteous people as emotionally flat beings. Instead, we read of Prophet Yaqub's grief, Prophet Yunus's anger, Prophet Muhammad's joy. Our emotional range is part of our Divine design.

Your perimenopausal mood shifts invite you to know yourself more deeply and to recognize that all emotions—when acknowledged and directed properly—can become forms of worship. Your tears can become dua, your joy can become gratitude, your frustration can become passionate advocacy for justice.

Rather than judging yourself for these emotional waves, you can learn to ride them with awareness, asking: "How can this emotion bring me closer to Allah? What is this feeling teaching me about myself and others?"

The Way Forward: Embrace the Transition

Perimenopause isn't just something to "get through"—it's a profound transition Allah has designed for you. In many traditions, including aspects of Islamic scholarship, the wisdom of post-reproductive years is highly valued.

Your body is changing, yes. But with these changes comes an opportunity to deepen your faith, refine your spiritual practices, and enter a new phase of spiritual maturity.

While we can and should address symptoms through proper self-care, we can simultaneously embrace these shifts as opportunities to increase our Iman. Each symptom becomes both a challenge to overcome and a spiritual doorway to walk through.

Are you ready to accept this invitation? To see beyond the physical discomforts to the spiritual openings they create?

Your journey through perimenopause can be one of tremendous spiritual growth. The same symptoms that challenge your physical comfort can become the very doorways through which you discover new depths in your relationship with Allah.

This transition marks not an ending but a beginning—an invitation to a more profound, embodied, and authentic spiritual practice that integrates all aspects of your changing self into your worship.

Mubarakah  Ibrahim is the CEO and founder of Fit Muslimah—a company committed to empowering high‑achieving Muslim women through a fusion of Islamic wisdom and cutting‑edge nutritional science, so they can navigate perimenopause with strength, grace, and unwavering faith.