among the waiting periods, since it is termed by the jurists—may Allah have mercy on them—“the mother of all waiting periods.” (1) Thus, if a man dies leaving behind his wife, and she gives birth three hours—or even less—after his death, her waiting period is over. By contrast, a woman whose husband has died and who is not pregnant must observe a waiting period of four months and ten days. Therefore, even if a divorced pregnant woman experiences three regular menstrual periods exactly in accordance with her usual pattern, her waiting period does not end on account of menstruation.

For this reason, divorcing a pregnant woman is permissible, even if he has just had intercourse with her, because her waiting period begins immediately upon her divorce. Her waiting period is not based on menstruation, and the divorce takes effect.

The preponderant view is that if a pregnant woman sees regularly recurring blood that comes at its usual time each month and with its customary characteristics, it is menstruation, on account of which she refrains from prayer, fasting, and other matters. However, it differs from menstruation outside pregnancy in that it is not considered in determining the waiting period, because pregnancy is stronger than it.

Caution must be exercised in classifying bleeding during pregnancy as menstruation. That is, if a woman continues to experience her usual menstrual bleeding in the same pattern it followed before pregnancy, we rule that it is menstruation. But if the bleeding stops and then returns while she is pregnant, it is not menstruation.

Its minimum is one day and one night, and its maximum is fifteen days, ..........

His statement, “Its minimum is one day and one night,” means that the shortest possible menstruation is one day and one night—that is, twenty-four hours. This is the least it can be. Thus, if she sees menstrual blood for twenty hours, and recognizes it by its smell and color,