menstrual period does not count; rather, she must undergo three new menstrual periods. Thus, it does not count toward the waiting period from the time of divorce.

Postnatal bleeding, however, has no bearing on the waiting period, because it is not counted as part of it. Thus, if he divorces her during postnatal bleeding, her waiting period begins from the time of the divorce, meaning that he has divorced her in accordance with the waiting period. If this is so, then divorcing her during postnatal bleeding or after it is the same.

As for his ﷺ statement, “Tell him to divorce her when she is pure, or pregnant” (1), it means pure from menstruation, as indicated by what is stated in the hadith: “He divorced his wife while she was menstruating” (948). Moreover, he ﷺ recited: “Divorce them for their waiting period.” [al-Talaq 65:1] This ruling is specific to divorce during menstruation and does not apply to postnatal bleeding.

Among the differences between menstruation and postnatal bleeding is that, according to the well-known position of the madhhab, intercourse with a woman experiencing postnatal bleeding is disliked if she becomes pure before forty days have elapsed. Intercourse with a menstruating woman, however, is not disliked if she becomes pure before the end of her usual period.

Another difference is that there is no minimum duration for postnatal bleeding, unlike menstruation.

These are seven differences between menstruation and postnatal bleeding.

If she gives birth to twins, the beginning and end of the postnatal bleeding are reckoned from the first of them.

His statement, “If she gives birth to twins,” means two children.

His statement, “the beginning and end of the postnatal bleeding are reckoned from the first of them,” means the first child to emerge.

This applies even if there is an interval between them, such as two or three days. Thus, if it is assumed that she gave birth to the first on the first day of the month, and the second on the tenth of