Janabah = menses

Allah the Almighty says:

"O you who believe! Do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated, so that you would know what you are saying, nor in a state of janabah, except if you are passing though, until you have perfromed ghusl..."

[Sura an-Nisa (4): 43]

Some say that prayer means 'place of prayer' or mosque, and that someone in the state of janabah may only pass through a mosque without sitting for a long time.

The correct meaning of this verse is that it refers to those who become in a state of janabah while they are passing through (i.e. travelling). Such individuals may not pray until they have performed ghusl or in the absence of water, tayammum.

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qurtubi]

Some cite the following hadith for prohibiting women entering mosques:

Prophet Muhammad said, I do not allow entering the mosque for a junub or a menstruating woman

However this hadith is classified as unauthentic because of Jasurah and other weak narrators in its chain of narration.

[al-Albani's, Irwa ul Ghalil, no 193]

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