Back to search

Is it considered correct to stop praying upon seeing the distinctive menstrual blood, even if it is mixed with istihada (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding) and there are no accompanying pains, especially if this condition recurs with a short period of purity (ṭuhr) that is less than what the schools of thought state for the minimum purity period?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The maximum duration of menstruation is fifteen days, and the minimum period of purity between two menstruations is thirteen days. If the blood flow exceeds fifteen days, or if a woman sees blood less than thirteen days after its cessation, such that the two cannot be considered a single menstrual period, the woman is deemed to be in a state of istihadah (non-menstrual bleeding). In the case of istihadah, the woman reverts to her previous habit (of menstruation). If she does not have a habit, she relies on sound discrimination (distinguishing menstrual blood by its characteristics). If she has neither a habit nor sound discrimination, she observes the predominant habit of women (six or seven days). What the questioner is doing is correct if she does not follow a habit and relies on sound discrimination for menstrual blood.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy