What is the ruling on a woman who menstruates at the age of fifty?
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Question:
A female questioner says: “O honorable Shaykh, if a woman reaches the age of fifty and her monthly period comes, should she not consider it and instead pray and fast? I ask for your guidance on this.”
Answer:
The scholars have differed on this: some set the limit at fifty years, and others at sixty years. There is no clear evidence for this, except what is established from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: “A woman does not find anything in her womb after fifty.” She said this based on her independent legal reasoning.
The correct view is that if menstruation continues with her and does not change, even after fifty, she must sit (i.e., refrain from prayer and fasting); because there is no evidence for limiting the duration. However, if it becomes irregular for her after fifty and its condition changes, this is a sign of cessation and a sign that it is not menstruation. If it becomes irregular for her after fifty, it is not considered menstruation, and this becomes one of the indicators of its end. For example, it may be red at one time, yellow at another, or something else; it may increase at one time and decrease at another; it may come at one time and not come at another. That is, it fluctuates: it comes in one month and not in another; five days in one month, ten in another, and eight in another, after the age of fifty. It may be black at one time, red at another, or something else; it fluctuates. This is evidence that its matter has ended, so she should not consider it as menstruation, but rather as defective blood, like irregular non-menstrual bleeding. She prays with it, fasts, and protects herself with cotton or the like, and performs the ablution for the time of every prayer as long as the blood is with her, if it becomes irregular and defective for her after fifty.
A female questioner says: “O honorable Shaykh, if a woman reaches the age of fifty and her monthly period comes, should she not consider it and instead pray and fast? I ask for your guidance on this.”
Answer:
The scholars have differed on this: some set the limit at fifty years, and others at sixty years. There is no clear evidence for this, except what is established from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: “A woman does not find anything in her womb after fifty.” She said this based on her independent legal reasoning.
The correct view is that if menstruation continues with her and does not change, even after fifty, she must sit (i.e., refrain from prayer and fasting); because there is no evidence for limiting the duration. However, if it becomes irregular for her after fifty and its condition changes, this is a sign of cessation and a sign that it is not menstruation. If it becomes irregular for her after fifty, it is not considered menstruation, and this becomes one of the indicators of its end. For example, it may be red at one time, yellow at another, or something else; it may increase at one time and decrease at another; it may come at one time and not come at another. That is, it fluctuates: it comes in one month and not in another; five days in one month, ten in another, and eight in another, after the age of fifty. It may be black at one time, red at another, or something else; it fluctuates. This is evidence that its matter has ended, so she should not consider it as menstruation, but rather as defective blood, like irregular non-menstrual bleeding. She prays with it, fasts, and protects herself with cotton or the like, and performs the ablution for the time of every prayer as long as the blood is with her, if it becomes irregular and defective for her after fifty.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.