Is the expiation for intercourse during post-natal bleeding the same as the expiation for intercourse during menstruation?
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The questioner : Is the woman in postpartum bleeding treated like a menstruating woman regarding intercourse during the postpartum period, and what is the expiation for intercourse? Is the expiation for one who has intercourse with her the same as the expiation for one who has intercourse with a menstruating woman?
The Shaykh : The rulings for postpartum bleeding are the same as the rulings for menstruation. Therefore, if a woman is in postpartum bleeding, it is not permissible to have intercourse with her, just as it is not permissible with a menstruating woman. The expiation is the same as the expiation for one who has intercourse with a menstruating woman. However, it is necessary to distinguish between the end of the postpartum period, its duration, or her waiting period, and her remaining in her waiting period. Many people confuse this matter. It is known that there is scholarly disagreement among the schools of jurisprudence regarding the duration of postpartum bleeding if the blood continues. The Hanafis say the duration is forty days, and the Shafi'is say sixty days. The first opinion is the one that came in the Sunnah, in Sunan Abu Dawud and others. This means that if a woman's blood continues after forty days, what comes after the forty days is irregular non-menstrual bleeding. During the forty days, she is in postpartum bleeding, and in this case, all the rulings that apply to a menstruating woman apply to her: she does not pray, she does not fast, and she does not have intercourse. If the forty days pass and the blood continues, this blood is irregular non-menstrual bleeding, and it does not prohibit her from praying, fasting, or having intercourse. She must pray and perform the ablution for prayer for every prayer, and it is permissible for her to combine two prayers. As for the expiation for one who has intercourse with her within the forty days while the blood is continuing, the expiation is as we said: the ruling is the same as with menstruation. However, it often happens among women that they become pure before the forty days, meaning the blood stops. If the blood stops, she has become pure. The number forty is not a fixed rule for every woman in postpartum bleeding; rather, the forty days were specified for blood that continues and does not stop, even after the forty days. As long as the blood is continuing, the forty days are the time of menstruation, and after that, she is pure, although she is a woman with irregular non-menstrual bleeding. If she becomes pure on the tenth day, the fifteenth day, or more or less than that, she has become pure, and everything that was obligatory upon her before becomes obligatory upon her again. Women differ in this regard: some have blood that continues after the forty days, and some see blood for one or two days and then become pure. But here, we must note something: the blood of postpartum bleeding is like the blood of menstruation. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described it as black, known or recognized, according to two narrations. The blood of menstruation and postpartum bleeding is black and foul-smelling. The custom for menstruating and postpartum women is that when the blood comes out and flows in this
manner, it is black and foul-smelling, then it continues to lighten in color from pure blackness until it begins to turn yellow, and it turns yellow and then stops, in this sequence and this gradual change. If the blood of a menstruating or postpartum woman follows this sequence and then stops, she has become pure, whether it is two days, three days, less, or more. However, if the blood stops while she is in her cycle... usually there is a foul smell... on the blood... and these are matters that women know, but...
The Shaykh : The rulings for postpartum bleeding are the same as the rulings for menstruation. Therefore, if a woman is in postpartum bleeding, it is not permissible to have intercourse with her, just as it is not permissible with a menstruating woman. The expiation is the same as the expiation for one who has intercourse with a menstruating woman. However, it is necessary to distinguish between the end of the postpartum period, its duration, or her waiting period, and her remaining in her waiting period. Many people confuse this matter. It is known that there is scholarly disagreement among the schools of jurisprudence regarding the duration of postpartum bleeding if the blood continues. The Hanafis say the duration is forty days, and the Shafi'is say sixty days. The first opinion is the one that came in the Sunnah, in Sunan Abu Dawud and others. This means that if a woman's blood continues after forty days, what comes after the forty days is irregular non-menstrual bleeding. During the forty days, she is in postpartum bleeding, and in this case, all the rulings that apply to a menstruating woman apply to her: she does not pray, she does not fast, and she does not have intercourse. If the forty days pass and the blood continues, this blood is irregular non-menstrual bleeding, and it does not prohibit her from praying, fasting, or having intercourse. She must pray and perform the ablution for prayer for every prayer, and it is permissible for her to combine two prayers. As for the expiation for one who has intercourse with her within the forty days while the blood is continuing, the expiation is as we said: the ruling is the same as with menstruation. However, it often happens among women that they become pure before the forty days, meaning the blood stops. If the blood stops, she has become pure. The number forty is not a fixed rule for every woman in postpartum bleeding; rather, the forty days were specified for blood that continues and does not stop, even after the forty days. As long as the blood is continuing, the forty days are the time of menstruation, and after that, she is pure, although she is a woman with irregular non-menstrual bleeding. If she becomes pure on the tenth day, the fifteenth day, or more or less than that, she has become pure, and everything that was obligatory upon her before becomes obligatory upon her again. Women differ in this regard: some have blood that continues after the forty days, and some see blood for one or two days and then become pure. But here, we must note something: the blood of postpartum bleeding is like the blood of menstruation. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described it as black, known or recognized, according to two narrations. The blood of menstruation and postpartum bleeding is black and foul-smelling. The custom for menstruating and postpartum women is that when the blood comes out and flows in this
manner, it is black and foul-smelling, then it continues to lighten in color from pure blackness until it begins to turn yellow, and it turns yellow and then stops, in this sequence and this gradual change. If the blood of a menstruating or postpartum woman follows this sequence and then stops, she has become pure, whether it is two days, three days, less, or more. However, if the blood stops while she is in her cycle... usually there is a foul smell... on the blood... and these are matters that women know, but...