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Is blood, and the sight of its light, scattered drops, after ten days of taking birth control pills, considered menstruation or abnormal bleeding, and what is the ruling on intercourse and prayer in this situation?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The minimum period of purity between two menstrual cycles is thirteen days, and the maximum duration of menstruation is fifteen days. If spotting occurs before the minimum period of purity has passed, it is either added to the previous menses (provided that the total of the two bleeding periods and the purity in between does not exceed fifteen days), or it is considered irregular bleeding (istihada) if the duration exceeds this limit. If there are thirteen days or more between them, then the spotting is considered a separate menses if its total duration reaches one day and one night; otherwise, it is irregular bleeding. There is no blame on a woman for her husband to have intercourse with her if she was ignorant of the ruling and thought the blood was irregular bleeding. However, if she believed it to be menstruation, she has sinned, and according to some scholars, she must repent and offer expiation. If the spotting is considered menstruation, then ritual bathing (ghusl) is required after it ceases, and the prayers performed before the ghusl must be re-offered.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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