How does a woman fast and pray whose menstrual cycle has become irregular for a period such that the bleeding does not stop until she is treated?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This is a question from a woman who says: She has suffered for nine years, meaning since her marriage, from irregularity in her menstrual cycle, such that she bleeds continuously without stopping except after taking treatment. After the treatment, for a month or two, it becomes regular, then it returns to continuous bleeding again, to the point where it is difficult for her to determine the days of her normal cycle, which are eight days. It is known that the continuous blood is not in one state; sometimes it is heavy, sometimes light, and sometimes brownish, and this blood is mixed together, meaning the heavy, the light, and the brownish. For example, after taking the treatment and at her time, she bled on the twentieth of Sha'ban, and the bleeding continued until the fourteenth of Shawwal, meaning fifty-four days, and this blood is varied, heavy and light in the day.
The Shaykh : How fifty-four days?
The questioner : Approximately.
The Shaykh : I do not count.
The questioner : From the twentieth to the fourteenth.
The Shaykh : Okay, until the fourteenth.
The questioner : Yes, until the fourteenth.
The Shaykh : Yes, I thought it was nine, yes.
The questioner : Approximately fifty-four days, and this blood is varied, heavy and light in the day, and brownish, and sometimes continuous all day, and sometimes part of the day. Then she entered the hospital and they performed a cleaning procedure on her, and after that, praise be to Allah, the blood stopped until she wrote this message or this word.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : She also had a laparoscopy performed due to the presence of cysts on the ovary, which is said to be the cause of the irregular cycle, and this was before the cleaning. However, even after this procedure, the cycle did not become regular. The question is: What is the ruling on fasting the month of Ramadan?
The Shaykh : But until now, meaning?
The questioner : Until now.
The Shaykh : She is not saying that Allah has cured her.
The questioner : No, because she continued taking the treatment and had the cleaning, and yet it did not continue [to be regular], but the discussion is about fasting Ramadan. She fasted the entire month of Ramadan.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : She asks: What is the ruling on my fasting of the month of Ramadan, because I fasted it completely, and also the prayer, what is its ruling?
The Shaykh : This woman is a woman with irregular bleeding (istihadah), and istihadah is the continuous discharge of blood from a woman. This blood, which is the blood of istihadah, comes from a vessel in the lower part of the uterus, whereas the blood of normal menstruation comes from a vessel in the upper part of the uterus, at the bottom of the uterus. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified the ruling for the woman with istihadah that she should return to her original custom that she was accustomed to. So we say: Sit [do not pray] for the number of days that the menstruation used to come to you at its time. For example, if she used to menstruate for eight days from the beginning of the month, then istihadah occurred, we say: Sit for eight days from the beginning of every month, and for the rest, take a bath, pray, and fast, and there is no blame on her.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : If she has no custom, or if her custom is irregular, sometimes being seven days at the beginning of the month and sometimes at the end, and she does not know, then she should return to differentiation (tamyiz). Differentiation means that she looks at this blood; if it is on one uniform track, then she has no differentiation. If it varies, sometimes being black, thick, and foul-smelling, meaning it has an odor, and sometimes being red, then here we say: Sit for the thick, foul-smelling blood, because this is the menstruation. As for the thin red blood, this is istihadah. If she says she has no differentiation, the blood is on one uniform track, then this is a third state for the woman with istihadah. We say: Sit for six or seven days from the beginning of every month. This woman who... now that she did not sit, she did not sit, so we ask her what her custom was before she was afflicted with this incident. She said: My custom was six days from the beginning of the month. We say: Make up six days of fasting from Ramadan. As for the prayer, there is nothing on her, because if she left the prayer thinking that this was menstruation, then there is nothing on her.
The questioner : She now, I think she mentioned that she prayed.
The Shaykh : She prayed?
The questioner : ... likewise for the prayer, because she says she fasted Ramadan completely, and also the prayer.
The Shaykh : And likewise for the prayer. Okay, so it means the issue of the prayer is concluded, there is no problem with it, because if she prayed at the time when we ruled that she was not menstruating, then she has performed the prayer. And if she prayed at the time when she was menstruating, then she prayed while ignorant, so there is nothing on her. What remains is the fasting. We say: Make up the number of days that you used to be accustomed to before you were afflicted with this incident, yes.
This is a question from a woman who says: She has suffered for nine years, meaning since her marriage, from irregularity in her menstrual cycle, such that she bleeds continuously without stopping except after taking treatment. After the treatment, for a month or two, it becomes regular, then it returns to continuous bleeding again, to the point where it is difficult for her to determine the days of her normal cycle, which are eight days. It is known that the continuous blood is not in one state; sometimes it is heavy, sometimes light, and sometimes brownish, and this blood is mixed together, meaning the heavy, the light, and the brownish. For example, after taking the treatment and at her time, she bled on the twentieth of Sha'ban, and the bleeding continued until the fourteenth of Shawwal, meaning fifty-four days, and this blood is varied, heavy and light in the day.
The Shaykh : How fifty-four days?
The questioner : Approximately.
The Shaykh : I do not count.
The questioner : From the twentieth to the fourteenth.
The Shaykh : Okay, until the fourteenth.
The questioner : Yes, until the fourteenth.
The Shaykh : Yes, I thought it was nine, yes.
The questioner : Approximately fifty-four days, and this blood is varied, heavy and light in the day, and brownish, and sometimes continuous all day, and sometimes part of the day. Then she entered the hospital and they performed a cleaning procedure on her, and after that, praise be to Allah, the blood stopped until she wrote this message or this word.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : She also had a laparoscopy performed due to the presence of cysts on the ovary, which is said to be the cause of the irregular cycle, and this was before the cleaning. However, even after this procedure, the cycle did not become regular. The question is: What is the ruling on fasting the month of Ramadan?
The Shaykh : But until now, meaning?
The questioner : Until now.
The Shaykh : She is not saying that Allah has cured her.
The questioner : No, because she continued taking the treatment and had the cleaning, and yet it did not continue [to be regular], but the discussion is about fasting Ramadan. She fasted the entire month of Ramadan.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : She asks: What is the ruling on my fasting of the month of Ramadan, because I fasted it completely, and also the prayer, what is its ruling?
The Shaykh : This woman is a woman with irregular bleeding (istihadah), and istihadah is the continuous discharge of blood from a woman. This blood, which is the blood of istihadah, comes from a vessel in the lower part of the uterus, whereas the blood of normal menstruation comes from a vessel in the upper part of the uterus, at the bottom of the uterus. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified the ruling for the woman with istihadah that she should return to her original custom that she was accustomed to. So we say: Sit [do not pray] for the number of days that the menstruation used to come to you at its time. For example, if she used to menstruate for eight days from the beginning of the month, then istihadah occurred, we say: Sit for eight days from the beginning of every month, and for the rest, take a bath, pray, and fast, and there is no blame on her.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : If she has no custom, or if her custom is irregular, sometimes being seven days at the beginning of the month and sometimes at the end, and she does not know, then she should return to differentiation (tamyiz). Differentiation means that she looks at this blood; if it is on one uniform track, then she has no differentiation. If it varies, sometimes being black, thick, and foul-smelling, meaning it has an odor, and sometimes being red, then here we say: Sit for the thick, foul-smelling blood, because this is the menstruation. As for the thin red blood, this is istihadah. If she says she has no differentiation, the blood is on one uniform track, then this is a third state for the woman with istihadah. We say: Sit for six or seven days from the beginning of every month. This woman who... now that she did not sit, she did not sit, so we ask her what her custom was before she was afflicted with this incident. She said: My custom was six days from the beginning of the month. We say: Make up six days of fasting from Ramadan. As for the prayer, there is nothing on her, because if she left the prayer thinking that this was menstruation, then there is nothing on her.
The questioner : She now, I think she mentioned that she prayed.
The Shaykh : She prayed?
The questioner : ... likewise for the prayer, because she says she fasted Ramadan completely, and also the prayer.
The Shaykh : And likewise for the prayer. Okay, so it means the issue of the prayer is concluded, there is no problem with it, because if she prayed at the time when we ruled that she was not menstruating, then she has performed the prayer. And if she prayed at the time when she was menstruating, then she prayed while ignorant, so there is nothing on her. What remains is the fasting. We say: Make up the number of days that you used to be accustomed to before you were afflicted with this incident, yes.