Chapter Three
Rulings on the Three Types of Blood
The Menses (Hayd)
Hayd is blood that comes out of the uterus of normal women to the outside at often-regular intervals, through the vagina (the normal outlet), or from places other than the vagina when that is impossible, either because of birth defect or for some other reason. This blood is often red or black, hot, thick, and may flow copiously accompanied by a burning sensation. These characteristics are needed to distinguish menstrual blood from the other types.
The rulings relating to the blood of the menses are as follows:
(A) The general requirements
192. The following requirements/conditions should be present so that the blood is regarded as Hayd, i.e. menstruation:
First: The girl has reached nine (Hijri/lunar) years of age, so any blood coming out before this is not regarded as Hayd, even if it has the same characteristics; but when doubt relates to bolugh (reaching the Islamic legal age above), such blood is considered a sign that proves it (bolugh); all the consequences of Hayd, will not be valid unless it is certain that this age has been reached.
Second: The woman has not reached menopause, which takes place after completing 50 lunar years (= 48 Roman years, 7 and a half months), whether the woman is Qorashite (i.e. from the Arab tribe Qoraish), and thus belongs in ancestry to an-Nader bin Kinaneh, or otherwise, although it is better for a Qorashite woman to combine both the acts of mostahadah (woman seeing the third type of blood, to be explained later) and all that woman during the menses (Hayd) abstains from until her age reaches 60 lunar years, when the requirements of the menses are present.
Third: The blood comes out, so if it stays inside the vagina it is not regarded as menses blood unless it comes by itself or by inserting a piece of cotton and seeing blood on it, in which case her menses have started and she is considered to be in that condition, even if the blood stays inside. This is regarding the start; the end of the menses, however, is when the bleeding stops from both the inside and the outside.
Whenever a woman feels blood coming from the uterus but not to the outside, she is not obliged to insert a piece of cotton to check, but can keep observing the purity rulings until the blood comes out by itself, although it is better to check in this case.
Fourth: The time that the blood is coming out has to coincide with her regular menses time, and its characteristics, according to the following:
a- For a woman who has regular menses, she regards herself to be menstruating when she sees the blood, even if it does not have the normal characteristics of her menses blood; the situations of women with regular menses will be detailed later.
b- For women who have no regular menses, the blood coming out must have the characteristics of menstrual blood. It should be noted that one characteristic is sufficient to identify the blood as menstrual blood, and it is not necessary to see all the mentioned characteristics. That said, details will be explained regarding women who are experiencing their first menses, as well as those who have irregular menses.
Fifth: The blood must continue to flow for a certain time, with the following conditions:
a- The period is not less than three days, so if it stops in less than that the blood is not menstrual blood.
The three days do not have to be consecutive, so if a woman sees blood one day then it stops the next day, and then blood comes out for two more days, or in a pattern similar to this, the three-day condition has been met. However, if such stoppages take place, it is an obligatory precaution that the woman, on the day in which she sees blood, combines both the acts of mostahadah and all that the woman during the menses (Hayd) abstains from. On the day of purity and the stopping of blood, she might have to wash from istihadah according to its type and carry out the acts/duties of the pure woman; this is because it is probable that she is no longer menstruating (Ha’id).
b- Blood is present even if inside the vagina – after it comes out or is brought out – on every day of the first three days throughout the 24 hours, even if it does stop for a short while, such as a matter of minutes; but if the bleeding stops completely during the day or night for one hour, for instance, and the woman becomes completely pure, the blood that she saw before the stoppage should not be regarded as menstrual blood and she must re-start counting the days after the blood starts coming out again. Thus, noting this point and the previous one, the blood must be present for three days, even if not consecutive days, but it must be continuous in each of the three days throughout the 24 hours.
c- The period of the bleeding must not be more than 10 days, as will be explained later.
Sixth: There must be, between each two consecutive menses, a period of no less than 10 days; so if a woman sees blood after eight days from the end of her previous period, this blood is not menses, but to be regarded as istihadah; if 10 days have elapsed from the end of the previous period, then she may regard it as a new period/menses when the other conditions are present.
Seventh: The blood must not be one that is coming out as a result of a wound or abscess caused by illness, or by the penetration of the hymen in the case of a virgin.
193. When a woman sees blood, this is either one of these two situations:
1- She knows about the previous stoppage, so there is no problem about her acts as previously mentioned (the fifth condition just above).
2- She does not know, so she regards herself as Ha’id (during her period); so if the bleeding stops she must wash and pray. Then if she sees blood on the second day, she must regard it as menstrual blood as well, and so on until this continues for three separate days when she discovers that she has her period, and so she abstains from the acts as any Ha’id. Alternatively, if she discovers she is not Ha’id and that she should have taken care in the two days in which she was seeing blood, in this case – as an obligatory precaution – she should perform (as qeda’) the prayers and fasting (if any) of these two days.
194. How the days are counted - whether the first three days, assuming blood was coming out on three consecutive days, or other than the three, such as counting the ten days of purity, or the days of her period - is as follows, taking an example of 10 days:
First: She sees the blood on Thursday morning, for instance, at dawn or before it; in this case she must count 10 days and 9 nights, so the 10 ends at sunset on Saturday. The same applies if she sees the blood on Wednesday evening, or at any time during that night; in this case she does not start the count from that time, but starts on Thursday morning.
Second: She sees the blood after dawn on Thursday; in this case she counts 11 days and 10 nights. So the 10 days end, in this example, on Sunday at the same hour in which she saw the blood on Thursday.
195. The menses may come when breastfeeding, but in pregnant women it is more likely that it does not. If the blood comes during the days of her normal period, and with the same characteristics as the period blood – especially if she sees it 20 days after her last period – it is better for her to combine the acts of the mostahadah and all that the Ha’id abstains from.
(B) Categories of women according to the blood
It is evident from our explanations that identifying the period/menses cannot be done except through one of two methods: either through the fact that it occurs at the same normal time of the period, or it shows the familiar characteristics of the menses. Since women are different in this regard, naturally the rulings differ accordingly. To explain this, we say:
196. In terms of their periods when blood comes out, women fall in six categories:
1- Those with time and duration periods (weqtiyyeh and ‘adediyyeh), who have precise periods in both timing and duration, such as the woman who sees blood at the beginning of every month for seven days, and this continues. This is the natural form that women should have in most cases.
2- Those with time-only periods (weqtiyyeh), whose blood comes every month but for periods that differ in duration, for instance lasting for three days on one occasion, five on another and seven on yet another.
3- Those with duration-only periods (‘adediyyeh), who have a regular number of days, but the time it starts differs; so, for example, they may see blood at the beginning of the first month but in the middle of the next, but with the number of days (i.e. duration) the same in both months.
4- Irregular women (modtaribeh), who have had regular periods but then these start to become irregular in both timing and duration, and this pattern continues.
5- The forgetful woman (nasiyet al-‘Adeh), who is used to having a period, but she forgets when it starts and how long it lasts.
6- The first timer (mobtedi’eh), who sees blood for the first time in her life.
197. A woman is to be regarded having (regular) periods if she repeatedly sees blood, as in the first three categories, on two consecutive and similar occasions; so she starts her acts from the third month according to her period.
198. A woman with regular periods might experience irregularities or differences in her period; if this happens once, it does not affect the regular nature of her period, but if it happens in two consecutive months, the first period is cancelled and here:
a- if she continues in the new form, she is now having a new period and she must act accordingly.
b- if she does not continue, she should regard her period as irregular, and the rulings for irregular women become valid, starting from the fourth month or the fourth time in which she sees blood.
199. It is not necessary for the woman who has time-only period (weqtiyyeh) to see the blood at that time exactly, but if the blood shows one or two days before the normal time, or one or two days after it, she should continue to regard it as weqtiyyeh, as long as seeing the blood took place during these days of the period.However, if she sees blood more than two days before her period, then she should lookat its characteristics: if they are similar to her normal menstrual blood, she can regard it as a period; otherwise it is istihadah. Then if the period/menses arrives, she should consider herself to be having her period, even if the blood does not have the characteristics of menstrual blood.
(C) The rulings for the first-timer and the woman with irregular periods
200. If a woman sees blood for the first time in her life, or if she has had regular periods but they have become irregular both in time and duration, she must depend on the blood characteristics, and regard the situation as a period if the blood has the characteristics of menstrual blood, and as istihadah if the blood as the characteristics of istihadah blood. If the blood is of one colour there is no problem; but if its colour was different (such as red and black on one occasion, or black, red and yellow on another), the principle here is that she regards the darker colour (i.e. the black in the first example, and the black and red in the second example) as menses, and the rest as istihadah.
201. If the bleeding that the first-timer or the woman with irregular periods sees does not last for more than 10 days and it has the characteristics of menstrual blood, as is the most common case for women, the whole is regarded as menses whatever the number of days, up to a maximum of 10.
But if it lasts more than 10 days, the rulings for the first-timer and the irregular woman differ as follows:
The first-timer: she should check the number of days of her relatives – her mother, grandmothers, aunts (both sides, father's and mother's), cousins (both sides, father's and mother's) and the like, and look to see if their periods are the same, so that she follows that pattern and regards the rest of the days as istihadah; but if their periods are not the same, then she should regard her period of the first month as six or seven days (she has the choice in this), then she combines, through to the tenth day, the acts of istihadah and all that the Ha’id abstains from. In the following months, she should regard the first three days as menses, then combine the acts up until the sixth or seventh day, and regard the rest as istihadah; she should keep to this final ruling until her period becomes regular.
As for the irregular woman: she should regard her period as lasting six or seven days, and the rest as istihadah, and does not need to question her relatives.
(D) The regular woman
Because of the numerous possibilities of this case, we will explain it under two categories:
First: When the bleeding does not last for more than 10 days
202. If the woman with a regular period sees blood and she knows that it will not last for more than 10 days, the rulings are as follows:
The first case, if she has periods of both regular timing and duration her ruling is that she starts her period the moment she sees the blood and remains in this condition until she becomes pure in the last days of her period, regardless of the blood characteristics, whether her period lasts 10 days or less. We have mentioned before that it does not matter if the blood starts coming one or two days earlier or later than its normal date.
The second case, if she has a regular period as in the first case above, but the bleeding continues after the days of the period, her ruling is as follows:
a- If she was already in a state of istihadah before the starts of the menses, and the blood of the menses starts when the other bleeding has finished, here she finishes the days of her period according to her regular duration and regards the blood that comes later as istihadah.
b- If she was not in a state of istihadah, but was pure before her menses started, in this case she should resort to her own judgement, as follows:
1- She may decide with certainty that the bleeding is going to last for more than 10 days; here she ends her period according to her regular duration, and regards the rest as istihadah.
2- She hopes that the bleeding is going to stop no later than the 10 days; here she can add at least one day to her period, regarding herself as still during her period, then act as under istihadah; also, she can add two days or the rest of the 10 days to her regular duration of her period, acting as Ha’id throughout that duration.
3- She decides with certainty that the bleeding will stop at 10 days or before, this being not a mere probability; in this case she should stay as Ha’id until the end of her regular duration, then what occurs after this is regarded as menses if the blood has the characteristics of menstrual blood, otherwise it is istihadah.
The third case, if her period was time-only (weqtiyyeh), her ruling will then be Ha’id in the first three days, whatever the characteristics of the blood. Then after that she checks if the blood has the characteristics of the menses, she regards it as such, until the bleeding stops at or before 10 days; but if it does not, it is istihadah.
Here again, it does not matter if the blood comes earlier by one or two days, as is the case with the woman with periods of regular time and duration.
The fourth case, if her period was regular in duration only (‘adediyyeh), this woman must differentiate according to the characteristics when she sees the blood; here a number of different situations may arise:
a- All the blood has the characteristics of the menses; in this case there are two possibilities:
- if the bleeding stops according to her regular period, the ruling is that all of it is menses.
- if the bleeding lasts for longer than her regular period, the ruling is different according to her judgement whether she hopes or is certain that the bleeding will stop before the 10 days, as in the second case.
b- If all the blood has the istihadah characteristics, in this case she is under istihadah, regardless of the amount of blood, be it little or abundant.
c- If some of the blood has menses characteristics while the rest does not, in this case she regards herself to be having a period if the blood has the normal menstual characteristics and conditions, but as istihadah when otherwise, regardless as to whether the duration is the same as her period duration or more or less, as long as all occurs within the 10 days.
Second: When the bleeding lasts for more than 10 days
203. If the regular woman sees blood and she knows that it will last for more than 10 days, here there can be several cases:
The first case, if her periods are of regular timing and duration, she regards the days equal to her regular period as her menses and the rest as istihadah, regardless of the blood characteristics. Here, we can assume the following:
a- She sees the blood at the usual time, so she regards what is more than the regular duration up to what is more than the 10 days as istihadah.
b- She sees it before her usual time or after it, or before and after it so that her period days fall in between; in these cases she regards her regular period days as the menses, as differentiated from the blood before and after it.
c- She sees the blood during some of her regular duration and outside it, such as: if her period lasts normally six days at the start of the month, but she does not see blood until in the third day of the month and it continues for more than 10 days, in this case she regards herself to be having her period during the days that coincide with her regular period days, i.e. three days, and regards what occurs outside that as istihadah, and she should not complete the missing days from those that fell after her regular period days to make her menses six days long. The same ruling applies if the assumption is the reverse, i.e. when she sees blood before her regular date by eight days and the three from her period.
The second case, if her period is of regular duration only, she should check the characteristics as follows:
a- The blood on all the days has menses characteristics, so she regards as menses the same number of days of her regular period and the rest as istihadah.
b- All the blood has the istihadah characteristics; in this case all of it is istihadah.
c- Some of the blood has menses characteristics and some the istihadah’s; here no particular weight is given to the fact that it lasts for more than 10 days, since the ruling factor is the characteristics; the assumed case in this is that the period lasts less than 10 days, most of which will be distinguished according to the blood characteristics. The rule can be formulated as follows: for the woman with duration-only periods, when her blood becomes different and lasts for more than 10 days, and the blood she sees during her regular period days has menses characteristics, her ruling is to regard the number of days equal to her regular period as menses and what occurs beyond this, and which lasts more than 10 days, as istihadah, although it has the characteristics of the menses blood. Let’s take this example: a woman sees blood for 11 days and her period normally lasts for seven days; she saw blood which had istihadah characteristics from the first to the sixth day, then till the eleventh day it had menses characteristics; in this case she regards the last seven days as her period and what came before as istihadah; the ruling is the reverse if the case is reversed, and so on.
The third case, if her period is time-only, her ruling is to regard herself to be during her menses when she sees the blood for up to three days, regardless of the blood characteristics, then after that: if the blood retains menses characteristics, she regards it as such up till the sixth or seventh day (she counts from the beginning of the first three days, not after them), and what follows after, until it goes beyond the 10 days, she regards it as istihadah regardless of its characteristics. However, if the blood after the three days had istihadah characteristics, she regards it as such until it goes beyond the 10 days.
(E) The woman who forgets her period
204. The ruling regarding the woman who has had a (regular) period then forgets it depends on the category she is classed in, as follows:
First: If she has a duration-type period, the ruling will – as previously explained – depend on the characteristics, and here there are two situations:
a- The bleeding does not last longer than the 10 days; in this case she must regard as menses as the blood which has menses characteristics and regard as istihadah what is otherwise.
b- If the bleeding continues for longer than the 10 days, here are two possibilities:
1- If she thinks that her period might well last less then than seven days, then she should follow that, regarding that period as menses and the rest as istihadah.
2- If she thinks that her period might last more than seven days, here she must combine the acts of istihadah and all that should be abstained from during the menses during the days beyond the seven days until she reaches 10 days, then she regards the rest that cannot be menses as istihadah. For example: a woman sees blood at the beginning of the month and the bleeding lasts beyond the 10th day and stops on the 13th, and she thinks that her period might it nine days, here she regards herself to be having her period for seven days, then combines the acts until the ninth day, then istihadah from the 10th to the 13th.
Second: If she has a time-only period, here there are two cases:
a- The bleeding stops within 10 days, but lasts for more than three days; here she regards as menses the part that has menses characteristics and as istihadah the part that had istihadah characteristics.
b- The bleeding lasts beyond 10 days; here are two possibilities:
1- She knows that her period falls within 13 days, for example, but she cannot tell which; here she must combine the acts of istihadah with all that women in menses abstain from throughout the 13 days.
2- She does not know whether her period does fall during these days; in this case, if the blood changes its characteristics she must regard as menses that which has menses characteristics on the condition that it does not last for more than 10 days and not less than three days, and as istihadah that has istihadah characteristics. If the blood has the same characteristics throughout that period and is like the menses type, she regards her menses as lasting six or seven days and the rest as istihadah, but if it had the characteristics of istihadah throughout that period she should regard all of it as istihadah.
Third: If she has a time and duration period, here there are three possibilities:
a- She forgets the time but remembers the duration; here the ruling is the same as for the woman who has time-only periods but has forgotten it, but when she sees the blood with menses characteristics and for more than 10 days, and she does not generally know whether it falls within her period days, she must regard the days equal to her period as menses and the rest as istihadah.
b- She forgets the duration but remembers the time; here she must regard herself as in menses from the moment she sees the blood, whatever its characteristics, for three days, and must regard the period after that, up till the 10 days, as menses if it has the same characteristics, and as istihadah if otherwise. However, if the bleeding lasts for more the 10 days, her ruling is the same as for the womanwho has a duration-only period and has forgotten it (see above).
c- She forgets both the time and duration; the ruling can be taken from the two cases just above. For example: if she sees the blood and it stops within the 10 days, she should regard all of it as menses if it has the characteristics of the menses, but if it lasts beyond the 10 days and she knew in general that the days coincided with her period days, she must combine the istihadah acts and all that the Ha’id abstains from, even if a certain duration for her period is probable for her; this is because the time consideration is more important and telling than the duration consideration. But if she does not know whether the days coincided with her period days, here she must observe the duration consideration; thus if she thinks that there is a probable duration for her period, she should regard it as menses as was explained for women who forget their duration period; and so on.
(F) General rulings
205. It is possible that sometimes the woman sees blood for three days of more, then it stops for several days, then she sees it for three days or longer; there are two sets of cases here:
First: The total number of days of blood and stoppage is 10 or less, and the woman has a (regular) period, here there are two cases:
a- One of the two episodes of bleeding occurs at the time of her period while the other has the characteristics of the menses; here she regards the whole thing as a single period including the days of purity and stoppage.
b- One of the two episodes of bleeding coincides with the time of the period or the characteristics of the menses, while the other does not conform to one of them; here she should regard the blood conforming to one of these two factors as menses and the other as istihadah and the periods of stoppages as purity.
Second: The total number of days is more than 10 days; here are two cases:
a- The woman has a time and duration period; in this case she should regard what is within the period as menses, regardless of the blood characteristics, and the days of purity as such, and the second blood as istihadah, even if it has the characteristics of menses, and she does not have to complete the shortfall in her (usual) period days from the second blood if the days that fell within her (usual) period days were fewer than usual. The same ruling applies to women who have duration-only periods if the blood has the characteristics of the menses.
b- The woman does not have a (regular) period; here there are many situations:
- The blood changes colour; in this case she should regard that which has the characteristics of the menses as period, and the rest as istihadah, and the stoppage period as pure days.
- The blood keeps the same colour and has menses characteristics, so she regards the first blood as menses, the stoppage period as pure days and the second blood as istihadah.
- All the blood has istihadah characteristics, so she regards all of it as istihadah, with the stoppage time as purity days.
206. If she has a third episode of bleeding with istihadah characteristics between two episodes that have menses characteristics, there are two sets of cases:
a- If the total is more than 10 days, there are two possibilities:
- One of them falls within the days of the period, but not the other, so she regards the first as menses.
- None of them falls within the days of her period, or she did not have a (regular) period; in this case she regards the first blood as menses.
- She has a duration-type period and some of the second blood completes the duration with the istihadah in between; then she makes the time equal her duration period as menses as well.
b- If the bleeding does not last beyond 10 days, she regards the whole thing as menses, including the bleeding which has the istihadah characteristics.
207. If the Ha’id thinks it probable that she has become pure, she must check and make sure of that by inserting a piece of cotton in the blood outlet, leave it there, then take it out to see if it was free of blood. If she knows that this purity is temporary, even if for a short period, here she must regard herself as if the bleeding has not stopped yet. But if she is certain that the blood will not return, or is doubtful regarding its return, she must wash and pray; then if the blood does not return within the 10 days, what she did was correct, but if it does return before the elapse of the 10 days from its start, she returns to the menses status as appropriate (as explained and detailed earlier), and the stoppage of one or two days does not affect her period/menses status. For example: a woman sees her period for four days, then becomes pure, washes and prays for two days, then she sees blood for three days; here she regards the whole of the nine days as menses, dismissing that what she did in the two days in between as void.
The checking that we mentioned is to ascertain her purity; but if she comes to know her purity without checking, she is not obliged to carry out that check and can wash and pray.
An-Nifas (post-natal blood)
An-Nifas is the blood that appears during or after childbirth and as a result of childbirth. Like the menses, it is a kind of al-Hadath al-Akbar, even if the birth was by Caesarean section or other surgery. The details regarding nifas are as follows:
(A) The general conditions
208. The blood is not considered as nifas unless two conditions are present:
First: It comes after childbirth, following it by a short or long time but within the ten days that follow the childbirth. What comes out before childbirth, even if more than three days before it, is istihadah.
Second: This blood must be seen during the first ten days; what is seen after the ten days is not nifas.
209. The first ten days mentioned above are the maximum duration for nifas, but there is no minimum duration for it.
210. It is not a condition to have a purity period between one nifas and another, so if a woman gives birth to twins there is a nifas for each one, and if there are fewer than ten days between them, the nifas of the first ends when the second is born.
211. A period of purity of no fewer than ten days must elapse between the current nifas and the next period/menses, so the blood seen by the woman during the ten (days) of purity is istihadah until ten days have elapsed following her nifas, and she becomes able to act as Ha’id after that, provided that the conditions of the menses are met.
212. The counting of nifas, i.e. ten days begins from the moment that the first part of the baby appears, even if its whole body is not out. The details of this are exactly the same as in counting the days of the period (see no. 194).
213. The blood seen is nifas regardless to whether the foetus is complete or not, alive or dead, or if a miscarriage took place or whether the spirit has entered it or not. That said, there is a problem in a ruling of nifas if the miscarriage was still a mere modghah, i.e. a piece of flesh with no distinctive features.
214. A woman might not see any blood after giving birth until ten days have elapsed; if blood is then seen after this, it is not nifas, but either menses or istihadah, according to her situation - i.e. whether it coincides with her period time if she has a time-type period, or whether it has the characteristics of menses blood if she does not have a time-type period, or whether it does not conform to either of these situations.
(B) An-Nifas rulings
215. If she does not see blood immediately after giving birth, but after the elapse of ten days, there are two possibilities:
a- The bleeding does not last beyond ten days; in this case her nifas is regarded as that period in which blood is seen only, unless she knows that that blood is not a result of her childbirth, in which case it is not absolutely certain to regard it as nifas.
b- The bleeding does not last for more than ten days; then she regards herself in nifas from the moment she sees it, as if she gave birth at that time, and up to her suitable period, which is the end of her period days or the elapse of ten days if she does not have a (regular) period.
216. If she sees blood after childbirth then it stops within the ten days, then all that she has seen is nifas, whether she has a (regular) period or not, and whether the blood was continuous or otherwise, but in the latter case (not continuous) she regards the purity time periods in between as nifas (as well).
However, if the woman has a duration period lasting less than ten days, if the bleeding goes on beyond her regular period duration and she hoped that it would stop before the ten, she has the choice, then, either to add two days or more to her nifas (as long as this addition is within the ten days, then she regards the rest as istihadah), or to stay in nifas to the end of the ten days.
217. If a woman sees blood after giving birth and it continues beyond ten days, there are two possibilities;
a- If she has a duration period, then she regards her period as nifas and the rest istihadah.
b- If she has no duration period, then she regards her nifas as ten days and the rest istihadah.
218. If a woman has bleeding but it is not continuous, and she has a (regular) period – let’s say six days – and this bleeding lasts beyond ten days, there are two possibilities:
1- She sees the blood immediately after giving birth, and here there are two further possibilities:
a- Blood is seen for two days after giving birth, but it then stops for two days then continues again until beyond the ten days; here she regards the first blood as her nifas, as well as the second blood and the purity days in between, so as to complete her period duration, and what occurs beyond this is istihadah.
b- Blood is seen for three days, then stops for three days; in this case she has completed her period, so if she sees blood after that and it continues beyond the ten days, the ruling is that she regards the first blood as nifas, the stoppage duration as purity and the whole of the second blood as istihadah.
2- She does not see blood after giving birth immediately, such as in the case where a woman, whose period lasts six days, has bleeding on the second day after birth, but this stops for two days then comes again and continues beyond the ten days, in this case she regards the first day as pure, then the rest is like in (a) above, but with adding what is short from the first blood to the second blood, as long as this addition makes a total fewer than the ten, until she completes her period duration;then she regards what comes after it as istihadah.
Note (1): The previous ruling applies in all its cases if the stoppage takes place more than once during the days of the period.
Note (2): The previous rulings apply if the woman did not have a (regular) period, but she should regard herself as in nifas up to the ten days, then regard as istihadah what occurs beyond this; this is in contrast to the woman who has a (regular) period and keeps to the duration of her period.
219. The bleeding might stay with the nefsa’ (woman in nifas) for several weeks; the ruling in such a situation is as follows:
1- She finishes her nifas as detailed just above (no. 218), either by completing her normal period duration, if she has a duration period, or by completing ten days if otherwise; then she washes from nifas and carries out the acts of istihadah.
2- She continues to regard herself in istihadah up to ten days from the end of the normal (Sharī‘ah) nifas, then she regards herself as follows: if her normal period time occurs at the time that she was used to before her pregnancy arrived, then she regards herself as in her menses, otherwise she has to check the characteristics of the blood; if it has menses characteristics, she regards herself in menses as well, otherwise she should stay as in istihadah until the time of her normal period arrives, or until the blood starts bearing the characteristics of the menses, if she does not have a time-type period.
220. If a woman who has a (regular) period forgets her period, in this case her ruling in nifas is the same as her ruling in the menses, although the concern in nifas is limited to forgetting the duration, since the blood seen is nifas blood, which is related to childbirth not to the fact that she has a time-type period.
Al-Istihadah
(A) Defining istihadah and its degree
221. The woman is considered mostahadah (i.e. having istihadah) whenever she sees blood that is neither menses nor nifas because of the absence of the necessary conditions for each of them. So, blood seen by women before reaching bolugh (the Islamic legal age) or after menopause, for less than three days or more than ten days, and which is not due to a wound, abscess or defloration of the hymen, as well as in nifas when blood is seen before giving birth or after ten days, is neither menses nor nifas, but is istihadah.
And in the cases where such blood may either be menses or istihadah the matter depends on its characteristics, for the blood of istihadah has different characteristics to that of the menses as explained earlier – it is yellow, cool, thin, coming out without a burning or stinging sensation, which is what distinguishes it from menses blood. Since we said that the nifas blood has no particular characteristics that distinguish it, this means that distinguishing nifas from istihadah is not achieved by checking the characteristics, but by the existence of the conditions of nifas.
222. The istihadah blood has no minimum or maximum limits, nor a minimum time for purity; also, it has no time or duration period; any blood may be regarded as istihadah blood at any time that it is seen, even if for a few moments, whether the flow is continuous or not, regardless of the length of the period of continuation or stoppage.
223. For istihadah to be present, the blood must be coming out from its usual outlet, either as normal which is the vagina, or from an outlet other than the vagina if this takes place as a result of deformation or health reasons; it is also istihadah if it comes out from elsewhere besides its normal outlet, such as if the woman is used to it coming from the vagina and then it starts coming out from another outlet, or if she is used to it coming out from an outlet other than the vagina then it starts coming out from a third outlet.
224. The blood is not regarded as istihadah unless it goes outside, even if through absorption by a piece of cotton, then if this remains inside the woman, she is still having istihadah, since the Hadath of istihadah is present as long as the blood is inside the vagina – as explained in the menses – until the woman becomes completely pure.
225. The istihadah has three degrees, according to the amount of blood coming out, something that is ascertained by inserting a cotton piece into the blood location; these are:
First, istihadah qelīleh (little): This is present when the cotton comes out a little stained with blood but not to the extent of the cotton being wholly soaked with blood; some parts of the cotton are stained and some clean.
The ruling in this case is:
1- To replace the cotton which the woman uses to stop the blood flowing out, or to purify it, for every prayer, as an obligatory precaution.
2- To carry out ablution for every prayer, whether the obligatory daily prayers or the recommended ones.
Second, istihadah motewassitah (medium): This is present when the cotton comes out lightly soiled with blood; the blood does not flow out of the cotton, but it has affected all of the cotton, unlike in the case of the little istihadah.
The ruling in this case is to replace the cotton, as above, as an obligatory precaution, and to wash once a day at any time that the medium istihadah takes place; so she washes at dawn for the dawn prayer, at noon for noon prayer, and so on. In addition, she has to perform ablution for every obligatory prayer; the washing does not cancel the need for ablution.
Third, istihadah kathīreh (heavy): In this case, the cotton comes out intensely impregnated with blood, so that blood is flowing out of the cotton.
The ruling in this case is to wash three times for the three prayer times, but ablution is not obligatory for these prayers unless a Hadeth asghar (urination etc) takes place after the wash or during it, in which case she should perform ablution for every prayer; or if a Hadeth asghar takes place between two prayers, in which case she should perform ablution for the next prayer; all this is in addition to the replacement of the cotton or purifying it as an obligatory precaution.
226. If heavy istihadah takes place after dawn prayer, then only two washes are needed that day, one for the noon and afternoon prayers and one for the sunset and evening prayers; if it takes place after the noon and afternoon prayers, only one wash will then be needed.
227. If istihadah takes place while praying, the prayer must be stopped and the acts of istihadah carried out before praying can begin again. However, if it takes place after finishing the prayer, there is no need to repeat the prayer.
228. If washing causes intense difficulty, or if the woman fears harm, her obligation will be tayammom instead of washing; in this case, all the consequences of washing apply, so if washing cancels the need for ablution, the tayammom will cancel that need as well, otherwise ablution must be performed after tayammom, or (another) tayammom if ablution is not possible.
229. If the woman cannot identify the kind of istihadah she has, she then acts as in her previous case if she has had a previous case, but if she has not had a previous case, she should act according to the probable higher degree, but combining this with the acts for the lower degree as a precaution. For example, if she doubts whether she has a heavy or medium type, she must wash for every prayer and perform ablution for every prayer as well. However, if blood is not flowing continuously, quite possibly a ruling of little istihadah will apply, if there is doubt between it and another type.
230. It is a condition for the validity of the acts of worship of the mostahadah (woman in istihadah) to check herself before performing it (the worship) as an obligatory precaution, so that she can specify which degree of istihadah she has to act accordingly. Hence, if she performed ablution or washed before checking, then prayed, her act becomes void if she finds out that her case has called for other acts; however, if her acts conformed with the degree she is in, in addition to the good-deed intention (qasd al-Qorbeh) – such as if she did this inadvertently – her acts are valid.
231. In the cases where washing and ablution are to be combined, ablution may be performed before washing, even if it was not necessary to do so.
232. The woman in istihadah must, at each of the three prayer times (after ablution or washing) try, using any means, to prevent blood from coming out during praying; if the blood does overcome her precautions and is seen during the prayer, she must repeat the prayer if she did not try hard enough; it is better that washing and ablution are repeated as a precaution. However, if the bleeding is heavy to such a degree that it is not possible to prevent it, in this case its flow to the outside during the prayer would not render the wash void, nor the prayer, as long this is not a result of her failure to achieve (possible) protection.
233. The mostahadah must rush to prayer or washing immediately, so if she delays this to an extent that is regarded as failure to do so, she must repeat her acts once more for the obligatory prayer. Here, if she is praying two prayers together (i.e. noon and afternoon, or sunset and evening, in immediate succession), she must go to the second prayer immediately after carrying out the first. However, if she is praying them separately (i.e. with a time gap in between), she must repeat the acts for the second prayer.
(B) The rulings regarding the change of the degree of istihadah
The degree of blood may change during istihadah, even during a single day, as it changes from a lower degree to a higher degree or the opposite. To detail this:
First: Changing from a lower to a higher degree
234. If the istihadah changes from little to medium, or from little or medium to heavy, in these two cases the previous state is removed and the woman should act according to the new state, if this takes place before the prayer or during it; if this takes place after it, it has no consequence on the previous prayer and she should act according to the new state for the next prayers. Let’s explain this point through the following examples:
- A mostahadah woman moves from little to medium istihadah at noon; in this case she washes for the two prayers, noon and afternoon, and performs ablution for every prayer.
- She moves from medium to heavy istihadah at noon; here she must – in addition to the wash she carried out in the morning for the medium istihadah – wash for the two noon and afternoon prayers without ablution; also for the two sunset and evening prayers if the heavy state continues.
- She has the medium istihadah and prays after washing, or before starting the prayer it changes to heavy istihadah; here she has to repeat the wash for the heavy istihadah and pray; this is because her wash for the medium istihadah is not sufficient for the heavy istihadah; but if there is no time for washing, she performs tayammom instead, and if there is no time for tayammom, she keeps to her previous act, but it is good to perform qada’ (repeat the acts) after (the elapse of) the time as a precaution.
Second: Changing from a higher to a lower degree
235. Changing from a higher-degree istihadah to a lower-degree istihadah takes place in a sequence, for each stage of which the ruling is different:
a- If she goes from a higher to a lower-degree istihadah, she must act according to her previous degree for the first prayer she attends, then according to the new degree for the second prayer. For example: she has heavy istihadah before noon then changes to medium istihadah at noon (dhohr); in this case she must wash for the heavy istihadah and pray the noon and afternoon prayers without ablution, then act according to medium istihadah for the sunset and evening prayers, i.e. not to wash again but to perform ablution for every prayer.
b- If she moves from medium istihadah to little istihadah at noon, then if she has already washed for the medium istihadah in the morning, she does not have to perform anything except ablution for every prayer, otherwise she will have, in addition to that, to wash for the medium istihadah for the noon and afternoon prayers, performing ablution for every one, but to perform ablution only for the sunset and evening prayers.
c- If she moves from the heavy to the little degree at noon, she must wash for the noon and afternoon prayers without ablution, then perform ablution only for the sunset and evening prayers.
236. The change may take place from a lower to a higher degree then to the lower in the same day, the ruling for which can be found from those previously stated. For example: if she moves from the medium to the heavy istihadah at noon, she must wash for the latter even if she had washed for the medium in the morning; then if she moves to the medium istihadah in the evening, she must, in observation of the previous state, wash for the sunset and evening prayers and pray without ablution, then act according to the medium-degree state on the morning of the following day, washing once for the day and perform ablution for every prayer.
237. It is not a condition for the above rulings to come into force that the change takes place during the time of the prayer, so if it takes place before the start of the time, such as before noon, or after midnight but before dawn, and she –for example – had a medium istihadah and changed to heavy then back to medium, she must act according to the change to the heavy although she was back to medium; so she must wash for the noon and afternoon prayers despite her wash in the morning for the medium istihadah; likewise if it was little in the morning then changed to medium or heavy, then back to little istihadah, in this case she must observe the previous state and wash for it; and so on.
(C) The ruling regarding the stoppage of blood
238. If the mostahadah knows that the blood is going to stop for a period long enough to perform the prayer with all its requirements, then she must delay her prayer till that time and offer it then; she must go to the prayer immediately if that stoppage period falls at the beginning of the prayer time. If she offers the prayer outside that time, her prayer is void and she must repeat it during the stoppage period with any other obligatory duties according to her state. That said, if the stoppage period falls at the beginning of the prayer time but she disobeys (and delays her prayer) until she sees the blood (again), she will have committed a sin and must offer her prayer, with all its acts, during the period of bleeding.
239. If the mostahadah finds that the bleeding suddenly stops temporarily after she has already fulfilled her duties and prayed, she must repeat the prayer with all its acts for as long as there is enough time, even if only for the acts and part of the prayer. The same applies if the stoppage takes place during the prayer or purification, as an obligatory precaution.
240. If the blood of the istihadah finally stops (permanently), there are two possibilities:
a- She becomes pure after offering the prayer; her acts are valid and she must carry out the same acts of her previous state for the next prayer. For example: if the stoppage takes place after the noon prayer, she must repeat her acts for the afternoon prayer, and if it takes place after the sunset prayer, she must repeat them for the evening prayer, and so on.
b- She becomes pure after the acts but before the prayer, during the acts or during the prayer; here she must repeat the acts and the prayer as an obligatory precaution, even if the time left is only enough for the acts and part of the prayer. Here are three examples:
1- A woman during medium istihadah washed in the morning and prayed, then became pure at noon; she must wash and perform ablution for the noon prayer, then perform ablution for the afternoon prayer, then after that resume her acts of worship in the normal way.
2- A woman during heavy istihadah washed for and prayed the dawn prayer without ablution, then washed at noon to offer the noon and afternoon prayers but found, after washing or during the prayer that she had become pure; here she must, as an obligatory precaution, repeat the wash and offer her prayer without ablution, then resume her acts in the normal way.
3- A woman during little istihadah peformed ablution for the noon prayer for example, then found that she had become pure before or during the prayer; here she must, as an obligatory precaution, repeat the ablution for the noon prayer, then another ablution for the afternoon prayer, then resume her prayers in the normal way.
And if the mostahadah during the medium or heavy istihadah did not see blood since starting the previous wash for her previous prayer, then discovers that that stoppage was a permanent one, she is not obliged then to repeat either the wash or the prayer.
241. If the woman becomes doubtful whether the stoppage is temporary or permanent, or she doubts whether the stoppage period will be sufficient for the acts and prayer, or that it will not be sufficient even for the acts and part of the prayer, in these two cases she must repeat the acts as if she is not doubtful.
242. What has been mentioned regarding the necessity of not leaving a gap between the wash or ablution and the prayer during istihadah does not apply when these acts are performed after the woman becomes pure and the bleeding stops; she is then allowed to leave a gap between the wash or ablution and the prayer.
Finally, the acts which women during the menses, nifas or istihadah must abstain from
These are acts that are forbidden (Haram) or recommended not to be carried out (makruh) by women during their period, nifas or istihadah.
(A) During the menses and nifas
243. The Ha’id (woman during her menses) is not allowed to perform either obligatory or recommended prayers, the obligatory circum-ambulation of the Ka’bah, also the circum-ambulation that is part of the recommended pilgrimage or ‘omreh and all acts of worship in which purity from the menses or nifas is a condition, such as fasting, i‘tikaf (staying in the mosque for several days on end), recommended prayers etc.
244. It is obligatory on women during both menses or nifas, after they become pure, to offer as qada’ fasting for (the days of) Ramadan and the vow fasting that was specified but then coincided with the Hadeth (menses or nifas) and so they were unable to offer it; however they are not obliged to offer prayers during that time, whether the daily prayers, ayat (signs, such as earthquake) prayers or vow (nethr) prayers specified for a certain time. That said, they must offer the prayers which they could not perform on the day of the Hadeth, if sufficient time has elapsed (before the onset of the Hadeth) for offering the prayer at its conditions; also they must offer what they could not on the day of their purity, if enough time was left (after the end of the Hadeth) for the prayer with its pre-requirements; otherwise, they are not obliged to do so in both cases.
245. Intercourse is forbidden for women during menses or nifas after the blood is seen outside the vagina, also in the anus as an obligatory precaution; but all acts of pleasure apart from intercourse are allowed, although it is recommended not to indulge in such acts between the belly button and the knee. And when blood stops, intercourse becomes allowed, even if she has not yet washed, although it is better to purify the place itself before that.
246. If intercourse takes place between a man and his wife during her menses, it is recommended that he pays (as kaffareh) one (shar’i) dinar if the act takes place at the beginning of the menses, half a dinar if in the middle of it and a quarter of a dinar if at the end. There is no kaffareh on the wife, but she would have committed a sin by agreeing with him to perform the act. There is no kaffareh on the man for intercourse during nifas, although he would have sinned.
247. It is forbidden for women during menses or nifas to enter and stay in mosques, the details of which are the same as explained for persons during janabah, but it is not forbidden to read the verses of sejdeh nor to mention the chapters themselves. However, touching the words of the Holy Quran is forbidden, and they should observe the precaution of not touching the word ‘Allah’ and the attributes of God the Most High.
248. Both divorce and dhehar (announcing – usually as a means of punishment – that one’s wife is like his mother, so making sexual acts with her forbidden) of the woman during the menses or nifas are void; this is on the condition that actual intercourse (after marriage) has taken place and there is no pregnancy and the husband is present or, if absent, he has the ability to enquire about the state she is in.
(B) During istihadah
249. All acts, obligatory and recommended, are valid for women during istihadah; prayer is obligatory on her as explained earlier, fasting as well. It seems that the validity of the mostahadah fast does not depend on her carrying out her daytime washes; as for the nighttime washes, they have nothing to do with the validity of the fast, as will be explained later in Fasting.
250. Intercourse is allowed to the mostahadah regardless of the degree of istidhadeh and even if she has not washed; however it is better not to do this (intercourse) during medium or heavy
istehadah until after washing. Also, she is allowed to enter mosques. That said, the mostahadah is not allowed to touch the words of the Holy Quran before the wash and ablution, but is allowed to do so after them, although it is better to abstain from this completely; however, not touching the word ‘Allah’ and His attributes is a matter of precaution that should not be disregarded.