What is the ruling regarding the first four days during which blood, brownish discharge, and yellowish discharge are observed, and must she make up the prayers, or are they considered part of the menstrual cycle?

First: If a woman sees blood that has the characteristics of menstrual blood during her usual period, it is menstruation, even if it is a small amount. There is no minimum or maximum limit for it. What a woman habitually experiences as continuous bleeding is menstruation.

Second: If the bleeding that appears has the characteristics of menstrual blood, it is menstruation. And whatever blood reappears thereafter with the same characteristics is also menstruation.

Third: Dark discharge (kudrah) and yellowish discharge (sufrah) that are connected to blood having the characteristics of menstrual blood are considered menstruation. However, if the blood is not menstrual blood, then the dark and yellowish discharge are not taken into consideration. So, if the initial blood was not menstruation, then the woman is obliged to fast and pray. If she did not pray based on her assumption that it was menstruation, and scholars differ on making up the prayers, then the more cautious approach is to make them up.