They cited as evidence for this that such a case is not normally known to occur; the predominant norm is that a girl does not menstruate before completing nine years of age, nor after fifty years of age.
Custom and what predominates do carry weight in the Sacred Law. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to the woman suffering from irregular bleeding: “Refrain for the length of time that your menstrual period used to keep you from prayer” (1). Thus, he referred her back to her customary pattern.
Shaykh al-Islam (2), Ibn al-Mundhir, and a group of scholars (3) said:
This fixed age limit has no sound basis. Whenever a woman sees blood that is recognized among women as menstrual blood, it is menstruation, whether she is young or old. The evidence for this is as follows:
- The generality of Allah’s statement: “They ask you about menstruation. Say, ‘It is a harm.’” [al-Baqarah 2:222] His statement, “Say, ‘It is a harm,’” is a ruling contingent upon an effective cause, namely harm. Therefore, whenever this blood—which is the harm—is present, and it is not blood from a vein, it is ruled to be menstrual blood.
It is true that a woman will generally not menstruate until after completing nine years of age. However, women differ: customary patterns vary according to women as a class and also according to heredity. Some women remain pure for four months, then menstruate for an entire month, as though—Allah knows best—the blood is retained and then comes out all at once.