What is the ruling on the fasting of a woman who completed her postpartum bleeding (nifas) and saw signs of menstruation a few minutes before Maghrib, so she continued fasting, then did not see menstruation the following day but rather yellow discharge, then saw brown discharge before Isha and considered it menstruation so she did not intend to fast, then saw the white discharge indicating purity the following day and continued fasting?

The signs of menstruation alone are not sufficient unless the blood itself appears. If what the questioner sister saw were signs of the period, meaning blood, then this is considered menstruation if it continued for a day and a night, i.e., if the cotton or cloth became stained with blood upon insertion. Similarly, yellowish and brownish discharges during the customary menstrual period are considered menstruation.

She must make up the days she fasted before seeing purification, because the characteristics of the discharge resemble brownish and yellowish discharges, which are considered menses during the time of menstruation.

However, if the period during which the discharge appeared was not the time of menstruation, and fifteen days had not passed since purification from postpartum bleeding, then it is not considered menstruation, because brownish discharge outside the time of menstruation is not considered menses. Similarly, if the bleeding did not continue for a day and a night, it is not considered menstruation according to schools other than the Maliki school.