What is the legal ruling concerning the fasting and prayer of a woman who miscarried a fetus in the second month of pregnancy, and is she obliged to make up for the fasting if she had fasted and prayed based on a previous fatwa?

Scholars have differed concerning the ruling on blood discharged after a miscarriage. The correct view is that a woman is in a state of nifas (postnatal bleeding) and abstains from prayer and fasting if the fetus she miscarried was formed. The minimum time for formation is eighty-one days. If it was not formed, then her blood is considered dam fasad (irregular bleeding) and does not prevent her from praying or fasting.

The Permanent Committee has issued a fatwa stating that if the fetus was formed, intercourse with her is prohibited as long as blood is being discharged, up to forty days. If its limbs were not apparent, intercourse with her is permissible, because it is not nifas blood.

Shaykh Ibn Baz clarified that if a woman miscarries something in which human formation is apparent, then she is in nifas and subject to the rulings of nifas. If human formation is not apparent in it, then she is in the ruling of a woman with istihada (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding) and must pray and fast.

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen indicated that the blood is considered nifas if the fetus is expelled and human formation is apparent in it. If it is expelled and not formed, then it is dam fasad and does not prevent prayer or fasting.