(Menstruation and Bleeding Out of the Normal Period)

1. Blood which flows out of the vagina every month is called haid (menstruation or monthly periods).

2. The minimum period of haid is three days and three nights and the maximum period is ten days and ten nights. Blood which flows for less than three days and three nights is not haid but is referred to as istihaada (flowing of blood out of the normal period). This happens on account of some sickness. If blood flows for more than ten days and ten nights, then all those days beyond ten days will be regarded as istihaada.

3. If blood flows for three days and not three nights,it will not be haid but istihaada. For example, if blood started to flow on Friday morning and stopped flowing on Sunday after sunset, then this is not haid but istihaada. If it flows slightly less than three days and three nights, it will not be haid. For example, if blood started to flow at sunrise on Friday morning and stopped flowing slightly before sunrise on Monday morning, then it is not haid but istihaada.

4. Whatever colour flows in the period of haid, such as red, yellow, green, brown, will all be regarded as haid until the pad is completely white in colour. When it is white and remains as it was when it was placed, the woman will be cleansed from her haid.

5. A woman does not get haid before the age of nine and after the age of fifty five. Therefore, if blood flows from a girl who is under nine years, it will not be haid but istihaada. If blood flows after the age of fifty five, it will only be regarded as haid if it is extremely red or black. If it is yellow, green or brown, it is not haid but istihaada. However, if yellow, green or brown blood used to flow from this woman before she turned fifty five, then after the age of fifty five, these colours will also be regarded as haid. But if it happens contrary to her habit, it will not be haid but istihaada.

6. A woman used to bleed for three or four days every month. Thereafter, in a particular month she bled for more than her normal period but not more than ten days. All the days that she bled will be haid. But if she bled for more than ten days, then all the days which are more than her normal period will be regarded as istihaada. For example, a woman always had a habit of bleeding for three days. However, in a particular month she bled for nine days or ten days and ten nights. All these days will be regarded as haid. But if she bled for even a moment more than ten days and ten nights, then her first three days are haid and the balance of the days will be regarded as istihaada. It will be wajib for her to make qada of her salaat for the balance of these days.

7. A certain woman has no fixed period. At times she bleeds for four days, at times for seven days and at times for ten days. All this will be regarded as haid. If at a certain time she bleeds for more than ten days and ten nights, check the number of days she bled for the previous month. That same number will be regarded as haid (for this month) and the balance will be istihaada.

8. A certain woman always bled for four days. Then one month she bled for five days. The following month she bled for fifteen days. Out of these fifteen days, five days will be haid and the balance ten days will be istihaada. Her first normal habit will not be considered and it will be regarded that her first habit has changed and that now her habit is five days.

9. A certain woman bled for more than ten days and she completely forgot her previous habit - that is, for how many days she bled the previous month. Her problem is a very intricate one and is extremely difficult to explain. In addition to this, such a problem is very rare. We are therefore not going to explain the ruling in regard to her problem. When the need arises, she should consult a learned aalim and abstain from asking anyone who is not sure of himself.

10. A girl sees blood for the first time. If she bleeds for ten days or less, it will all be haid. If she bleeds for more than ten days, the ten days will be haid and whatever extra days she bleeds will be regarded as istihaada.

11. A girl sees blood for the first time and she continues bleeding for several months. >From the day that she started to bleed till ten days and ten nights will be regarded as haid. Thereafter, the next twenty days will be istihaada. In this way, she will continue regarding ten days as haid and twenty days as istihaada.

12. The minimum period of purity between two haid periods is fifteen days. There is no maximum period. If, for some reason, she stops bleeding, then no matter how many months blood does not flow, she will remain pure.

13. If a woman bleeds for three days and three nights and thereafter remains pure for fifteen days and again bleeds for three days and three nights, then the former and latter three days and three nights will be the periods of haid and the fifteen days will be the days of purity.

14. If she bleeds for one or two days and then remained pure for fifteen days, and thereafter bled for one or two days again, then the fifteen days will be the period of purity and the former and latter one or two days will not be haid but istihaada.

15. If she bled for one or several days and then remained pure for less than fifteen days, then these will not be considered. Instead, the first day till the last day will be regarded as if she bled continuously. Whatever her normal period of bleeding may have been will be regarded as haid and all the balance of the days will be regarded as istihaada. An example of this is as follows: a woman had the habit of bleeding on the first, second and third day of every month. In a certain month it happened that she bled on the first day and thereafter remained pure for fourteen days. Thereafter she bled for another day. It will be regarded as if she bled continuously for sixteen days. Out of these sixteen days, the first three days will be of haid and the thirteen days will be regarded as istihaada.

If she had a habit of bleeding on the fourth, fifth and sixth of every month, then these dates will be the days of haid and the first three days and the last ten days will be of istihaada. If she had no habit and this was the first time that she bled, then the first ten days will be of haid and the last six days of istihaada.

16. Whatever blood that flows while a woman is pregnant is not the blood of haid but of istihaada - irrespective of how many days she bleeds.

17. Whatever blood that comes out prior to the delivery of the child is also the blood of istihaada. In fact, as long as more than half the child does not come out, until then whatever blood that flows will be that of istihaada.

1. During haid, it is not permissible to offer salaat or to fast. The only difference is that she is completely excused from salaat. After the haid, it is not wajib on her to make qada of her salaat. However, she is not excused from fasting. After her haid she will have to keep her missed fasts.

2. If she begins to bleed while offering her fard salaat, that salaat will also be excused. After her haid she does not have to make qada of it. If she was offering an optional or sunnah salaat, she will have to make qada of it.

If she begins to bleed while fasting, that fast will break and she will have to make qada of it. Even if she bleeds while keeping an optional fast, she will have to make qada of it.

3. If she begins to bleed at the end of a salaat time and had not offered her salaat as yet, even then she is excused from that salaat.

4. During haid, sexual intercourse is not permissible. Apart from sexual intercourse everything else is permissible. In other words, they can eat, drink, and sleep together.

5. A certain woman had a habit of bleeding for five or nine days. According to her habit, she bled for that number of days and thereafter she stopped bleeding. As long as she does not have a bath, sexual intercourse will not be permissible with her until one salaat time passes whereby the qada of one salaat becomes wajib on her.

6. If she had a habit of five days and she stopped bleeding after four days, she will have to have a bath and salaat will be wajib on her. But as long as five days do not pass, sexual intercourse with her will not be permissible because it is possible that she will start bleeding again.

7. If she bled for a full ten days and ten nights, then the moment she stops bleeding, sexual intercourse with her will be permissible irrespective of whether she had a bath or not.

8. If she stopped bleeding after one or two days, it is not wajib on her to have a bath. She can make wudu and offer her salaat but intercourse is not permissible. If she starts to bleed again before fifteen days, it will now be established that those days were the days of haid. According to calculation, whichever days were of haid should be regarded as haid. Now she will have to have a bath and offer her salaat. However, if fifteen days pass and she did not bleed, it will now be established that those one or two days were of istihaada. Since she did not read her salaat for that one or two days on account of bleeding, she will now have to make qada of those missed salaats.

9. She has the habit of bleeding for three days. But in a particular month, three days passed and she still had not stopped bleeding. She should not have a bath nor should she offer any salaat. If on the completion of ten days and ten nights, or before that, she stops bleeding; then the salaat for all these days will be excused. She will not have to make any qada and it will be said that now her habit has changed and all these days will therefore be of haid. But if she bled on the eleventh day as well, it is now established that only three days were of haid and all the rest were of istihaada. She has to have a bath on the eleventh day and make qada for the salaats of the seven days. She should not leave out her salaat now.

10. If she had haid for less than ten days and she stopped bleeding at such a time that so little time was left to offer her salaat that if she had to rush and have a bath, and after bathing so little time is left that she could only say Allahu Akbar and make her intention and could not read anything further; even then the salaat of that time will become wajib on her. She will have to make qada of it. If the time left is even less than this, that salaat will be excused and she does not have to make qada.

11. If she had haid for the full ten days and ten nights and she stopped bleeding at such a time that she only has time to say Allahu Akbar and nothing else, nor has she the time to even have a bath; then even in this case salaat will become wajib on her and she will have to make qada.

12. If she stopped bleeding in Ramadaan during the day, it will not be proper for her to eat or drink for the rest of the day. It will be wajib on her to behave like all other fasting persons until sunset. However, this day will not be counted as a fast. She will have to make qada of it.

13. If she stopped bleeding in Ramadaan at night and she had haid for the full ten days and ten nights, then if such a little time of the night is left that she cannot even say Allahu Akbar once, it will still be wajib on her to keep fast the next day.

If she had haid for less than ten days, then if she has so much time of the night whereby she could have a quick bath but after bathing she does not have the time to say even one Allahu Akbar; even then she will have to keep fast the next day. If she had the time, but did not have a bath, she should not break her fast. Instead, she should make her intention (for fasting) and have a bath in the morning. If she has even less time than this, that is she does not have the time to have a bath, then it will not be permissible for her to fast the next day. However, it will not be proper for her to eat or drink anything. She will have to spend the entire day like all other fasting persons and even make qada of that fast.

14. Once blood flows into the external skin of the vagina, haid commences. This is irrespective of whether it flows out of the skin or not. So if some cotton wool or something similar is inserted into the vagina whereby the blood cannot flow out, then as long as the blood remains in the vagina and no spot of blood comes onto the cotton wool (or pad) that is outside; until then we cannot say that haid has commenced. When a spot of blood comes onto the external skin of the vagina or if the cotton wool which was inserted is removed; then haid will be calculated from that time.

15. A woman who was not in haid inserted a tampon in the internal vagina at night. In the morning, she saw a spot of blood on the pad. Haid will be calculated from the time that she saw the spot of blood.

1. The rule in regard to istihaada is the same as for the one whose nose bleeds continuously. Such a woman should offer her salaat, fast and should not leave out these. It is also permissible to have sexual intercourse with such a woman.

Note: The rules for istihaada are the same as those of the ma'zur. (Rules concerning the ma'zur have already been mentioned previously).

1. After childbirth, the blood that comes out of the vagina is called nifaas. The maximum period of nifaas is forty days and there is no limit for the minimum period. Even if the blood stops flowing after half an hour or so, it will still be regarded as nifaas.

2. If after the birth of the child no blood comes out at all, even then it will be wajib to have a bath after the delivery.

3. If more than half the child came out but it has not come out completely as yet, then whatever blood comes out at that time will also be regarded as nifaas. If less than half the child came out, then whatever blood comes out at that time will be regarded as istihaada. If the mother is conscious and in her senses, then even at that time she has to offer her salaat. If she does not do so she will be sinful. If she cannot offer her salaat, she should read through gestures (ishaarah) and should not postpone her salaat. However, if by engaging in salaat, she fears for the life of the child, she should not offer her salaat.

4. A certain woman miscarried. If a few parts of the child have been formed, then whatever blood comes out after miscarrying will also be nifaas. But if no part at all has been formed, it will not be nifaas. If that blood could be regarded as haid, it will be haid. If not, it will be istihaada, e.g. the blood flows for less than three days or she has not completed the full fifteen days of purity as yet - it will be regarded as istihaada.

5. If the blood flows for more than forty days and this is the first time that she gave birth, then the forty days will be of nifaas and whatever extra days she bleeds will be istihaada. After the fortieth day she must have a bath and continue offering her salaat. She should not wait for the bleeding to stop.

If this is not the first time that she has given birth and she knows her previous habit as to how many days she had nifaas, then whatever may have been the number of days of nifaas will be regarded as nifaas and whatever is more than that will be istihaada.

6. A certain woman had the habit of nifaas for thirty days. However, thirty days passed and she did not stop bleeding as yet. She should not have a bath now. If the blood stopped on the fortieth day, then all these days will be regarded as nifaas. However, if it exceeds forty days, only thirty days will be of nifaas and all the rest of the days will be of istihaada. She should therefore immediately have a bath and make qada for the salaat of ten days.

7. If the blood of nifaas stops before forty days, she should immediately have a bath and commence offering her salaat. If bathing will be harmful to her, she should make tayammum and start offering her salaat. Under no circumstances should salaat be abandoned.

8. During nifaas, one is completely excused from offering salaat. Fasting is not excused. She will have to make qada of all missed fasts. The rules concerning fasting, salaat and sexual intercourse during haid are the same for nifaas.

9. If twins are born within a period of six months of each other, then the period of nifaas will be calculated from the birth of the first child. For example, if the second child is born after ten to twenty days or one or two months, nifaas will not be calculated from the second child but from the first.

1. The woman who is in haid or nifaas and bathing is wajib on her, then it is not permissible for her to enter a musjid, to make tawaaf of the Ka'bah, to read the Quran or to touch it. However, if the Quran is in a casing, or wrapped in a cloth, or covered with a cloth jacket which is not stitched to the Quran and which can be removed; then in such a case, the Quran could be touched and could also be carried.

2. The person who does not have wudu, even he cannot touch the Quran. However, he could recite it out of memory.

3. Touching a coin, saucer, amulet (ta'wiz), etc. on which some Quranic verse is written is also not permissible for the above mentioned persons. However, if these things are kept in a packet or container, it is permissible to carry that packet or container.

4. It is not permissible to hold or carry the Quran with the sleeve of the kurta or the edge of a scarf. However, if it is a cloth that is not attached to the body, it will be permissible to carry it with that cloth.

5. It is permissible to read a word from a verse (ayat) or half a verse. However, that half verse should not equal any full verse in length.

6. If the entire Surah Fatihah is recited with the intention of dua, or if any other duas in the Quran are recited with the intention of dua and not with the intention of tilaawat (recitation); then it will be permissible and there is no sin in this. For example, the dua:

"Rabbana aatina fid dunya hasanataw wa fil aakhirati hasanataw wa qinaa adhaaban naar."

and the dua:

7. It is also permissible to read Dua-e-Qunoot. (the dua which is read in Witr salaat).

8. If a woman is teaching the Quran to girls, then in such a case it will be permissible for her to spell out the words. When she is teaching them to read with fluency, she should not recite the entire verse, but should read one or two words at a time and after every word or two, she should break her breath. She should teach them to read fluently by stopping regularly.

9. It is permissible to read the kalimah, durood, to take the name of Allah, to read istighfaar (repentance), or any other remembrance (dhikr) such as:

10. In the period of haid, it is mustahab for a woman to make wudu at the time of salaat, to sit in a clean place and take the name of Allah Ta'ala so that she does not forget the habit of offering her salaat, and when she gets pure she is not reluctant to offer her salaat.