Who determined the forty-day period during which a husband is not to approach his wife after childbirth, and why specifically forty days?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
A husband is not prohibited from having intercourse with his wife if she experiences purity from post-natal bleeding (), even if it is only one or two days after childbirth. This is because there is no minimum duration for nifas.
However, if the bleeding continues, scholars have differed regarding the maximum duration of nifas:
1. The majority: Forty days. After this, the woman performs (ritual bath) and prays, and any bleeding thereafter is considered istihada (irregular bleeding). 2. The Shafi'is and Malikis: Sixty days.
The we follow is that the maximum duration for nifas is forty days.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/119301
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 119301
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy