What is the ruling on a woman experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding (mustahadah) using a sanitary pad instead of a piece of cloth? Does she need to repeat her prayers if the pad was not soiled and the time for the prayer passed? What is the ruling on the prostration of forgetfulness (sujood al-sahw) when there is excessive obsessive doubting (waswasah) about the number of rak’ahs? And is the prostration required if there is a strong suspicion (zann) of genuine doubt?

We have explained how a woman experiencing irregular bleeding (mustahadah) should take precautions to prevent the blood from exiting. If you took precautions incorrectly and no blood exited from you, you are not required to repeat the prayers. You must, however, take precautions correctly in the future. As for obsessive doubts (waswasah), the cure for them is to disregard them and pay no attention to them. You are not required to perform the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud as-sahw) for doubts arising from them.