What is irregular bleeding, does it have a limited duration, at what age does it occur, does one perform the full ritual bath upon its cessation as with menstruation, how does one distinguish between the two, and does it come immediately after menstruation?
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The questioner : She asks, “What is irregular bleeding? Does it have a limited duration? At what age does it occur? Does one perform the full ritual bath upon its cessation as with menstruation? How do I distinguish between it and menstruation? Does it come immediately after menstruation?” Then she says that after she performed the full ritual bath on the seventh day of menstruation, based on the common duration for most women, she did not see purity. On the eighth day, after fasting, she saw blood, so her fast was invalid. On the ninth day, she also saw blood. After that, she performed the full ritual bath from it and fasted on the tenth and eleventh days, while she continued to see that. What is the ruling on her fasting? Is this considered irregular bleeding, such that she is not required to repeat the fast or make it up?
The Shaykh : Irregular bleeding, according to the scholars, is when blood continues in a woman for more days than her usual period or for all her days. The ruling on irregular bleeding is that if she had a correct custom before it—meaning before the occurrence of the irregular bleeding—she sits out her custom, then after that she performs the full ritual bath and prays and fasts. However, when praying, she performs the ablution for each prayer, meaning she does not perform the ablution for prayer except when its time enters. When the time enters, she washes her private parts, protects herself with a pad, then washes the limbs of the ablution, then she prays whatever she wishes of obligatory and voluntary prayers until the time ends.
If she did not have a custom before, such that the irregular bleeding comes to her from the first time she sees blood, then she refers to the distinction. The distinction is that menstrual blood is black, thick, and foul-smelling, while the blood of irregular bleeding is the opposite. She sits out what is menstrual blood, then performs the full ritual bath, prays, and acts as previously mentioned.
Some of the later physicians mentioned that one of the signs of menstrual blood is that when it comes out, it does not clot, unlike the blood of irregular bleeding. If this difference is correct, it is added to the three previous differences, making the differences between menstrual blood and the blood of irregular bleeding four.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : If she has no previous custom and no distinction, meaning her blood is of one kind, then she sits out the majority of menstrual days for most women, which is six or seven days. The period begins from the first time she experienced menstruation or irregular bleeding. If, for example, the beginning of this blood was from the middle of the month, then she sits out six or seven days at the middle of every month, then performs the full ritual bath and acts as previously mentioned. This is the ruling for the woman with irregular bleeding.
As for the one who experiences blood intermittently, one day she has blood and one day she is pure, the well-known view among the Hanbali jurists is that the one who sees blood one day and purity one day, the purity is purity and the blood is menstruation, as long as it does not exceed the maximum of menstruation, which is fifteen days. If it exceeds that, it becomes irregular bleeding.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So what do we tell her regarding these days?
The Shaykh : These days, it appears to us, are not irregular bleeding because they did not exceed the maximum of menstruation.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Rather, they are considered menstruation, and whatever she did not fast during them, she must make it up.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Irregular bleeding, according to the scholars, is when blood continues in a woman for more days than her usual period or for all her days. The ruling on irregular bleeding is that if she had a correct custom before it—meaning before the occurrence of the irregular bleeding—she sits out her custom, then after that she performs the full ritual bath and prays and fasts. However, when praying, she performs the ablution for each prayer, meaning she does not perform the ablution for prayer except when its time enters. When the time enters, she washes her private parts, protects herself with a pad, then washes the limbs of the ablution, then she prays whatever she wishes of obligatory and voluntary prayers until the time ends.
If she did not have a custom before, such that the irregular bleeding comes to her from the first time she sees blood, then she refers to the distinction. The distinction is that menstrual blood is black, thick, and foul-smelling, while the blood of irregular bleeding is the opposite. She sits out what is menstrual blood, then performs the full ritual bath, prays, and acts as previously mentioned.
Some of the later physicians mentioned that one of the signs of menstrual blood is that when it comes out, it does not clot, unlike the blood of irregular bleeding. If this difference is correct, it is added to the three previous differences, making the differences between menstrual blood and the blood of irregular bleeding four.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : If she has no previous custom and no distinction, meaning her blood is of one kind, then she sits out the majority of menstrual days for most women, which is six or seven days. The period begins from the first time she experienced menstruation or irregular bleeding. If, for example, the beginning of this blood was from the middle of the month, then she sits out six or seven days at the middle of every month, then performs the full ritual bath and acts as previously mentioned. This is the ruling for the woman with irregular bleeding.
As for the one who experiences blood intermittently, one day she has blood and one day she is pure, the well-known view among the Hanbali jurists is that the one who sees blood one day and purity one day, the purity is purity and the blood is menstruation, as long as it does not exceed the maximum of menstruation, which is fifteen days. If it exceeds that, it becomes irregular bleeding.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So what do we tell her regarding these days?
The Shaykh : These days, it appears to us, are not irregular bleeding because they did not exceed the maximum of menstruation.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Rather, they are considered menstruation, and whatever she did not fast during them, she must make it up.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah bless you.