Ruling on the postpartum woman who becomes pure, then prays and fasts, and the blood returns to her

This is a message received from several listeners—namely: Ruqayyah 'Ali al-Shamri, Fatimah from Riyadh, Su'ad Muhammad al-Bashri from al-Hufuf, and ('Aishah M. S.) from al-Qassim. In their message, they state: We heard, or in their messages, but I have combined them because they are in agreement: We heard in a past session with His Eminence Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz, and in that session he said: If a woman becomes pure before the forty days, she may pray and fast. But if the blood returns to her within the forty days, is her fast that she fasted considered valid? And is it permissible for her husband to have intercourse with her within the forty days?
Answer: Yes, if the woman becomes pure within the forty days—as mentioned earlier—she prays, fasts, and is lawful for her husband, even if she has not completed the forty days. This is because the ruling is tied to purity. So if she sees purity while she is twenty days into postpartum bleeding, or thirty days into postpartum bleeding, her purity is valid. She must perform the postpartum bath and perform the ablution for prayer, then she prays, fasts, and is lawful for her husband, even if she has not completed the forty days, due to the presence of purity. If the blood returns within the forty days, the blood returns to her. For example, if she became pure for a month and remained pure for three or four days, and then the blood returned to her on the thirty-fifth or thirty-sixth day, the correct view is that this blood is considered postpartum bleeding. She does not pray or fast in it, and she is not lawful for her husband. However, her fast during the days of purity and her prayer are valid. She does not repeat the fast that was during the times of purity; it is a valid fast. She is not required to make it up later—she does not have to perform the make-up fast. No, the fast occurred in its proper time, and the prayer occurred in its proper place. So the fast is valid and the prayer is valid. And the fact that her husband had intercourse with her during that time is also fine; there is no blame on him because he had intercourse with her during the time of permissibility, which is purity.
As for the return of the blood within the forty days, some scholars said that this returned blood is doubtful. The correct view is that it is not doubtful, but rather it is postpartum bleeding, considered postpartum blood, like the blood that returns during the time of menstruation. So she does not pray or fast. If the forty days pass and the blood has not stopped, it has been mentioned earlier that this excess blood is considered corrupt blood after the forty days. She prays and fasts in it and considers it irregular non-menstrual bleeding. She must take precautions with cotton or the like, perform ablution for the time of each prayer, and pray the prayers in their times, or combine the midday and afternoon prayers, and the sunset and night prayers; there is no harm in this. She is lawful for her husband, as mentioned earlier.
One may combine the two prayers—the midday and afternoon, and the sunset and night—and this is better for women with irregular non-menstrual bleeding and those in their category. It is also better for them, in addition to this, to perform one bath for the midday and afternoon prayers, one bath for the sunset and night prayers, and one bath for the dawn prayer, if that is feasible, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) advised some women with irregular non-menstrual bleeding. Yes.
2. The questioner: But if she fasted, for example, ten days during Ramadan within the forty days, and then the blood returned to her within the forty days, is her fast that was interrupted considered valid?
The Shaykh: Yes. We have explained that her fast is valid. She counts her fast, and it is valid, and she does not make it up, because it occurred during the time of purity. It is a valid fast. Yes.