• “If it does not disappear”: that is, if the trace remains after scraping, rubbing, and sprinkling it.
• “Its trace”: the Arabic word athar means a mark or remnant; here it denotes the residual color of the blood that lingers after scraping, rubbing, and washing.

Lessons drawn from the ḥadith

1. It is mandatory to wash menstrual blood from a woman’s garment and body.
2. The washing is to be done with water.
3. When a garment—or similar item—has been washed of menstrual blood and only a stain of its color remains on the cloth or the skin, this does not compromise complete purification nor affect the validity of the prayer or other acts of worship.
4. The Sharīʿah is characterized by leniency and ease; a Muslim is to fear Allah to the best of his ability, and anything beyond that is excused.
5. The body and perspiration of a menstruating woman are pure. She is commanded to wash only what the blood soils; the rest of her body and clothing retain their original purity.
   Her ritual bath after menses is not because she herself is impure, but because she is in a state of major ritual impurity. This state is not tangible filth; it is a legal condition that is lifted by bathing. Were it genuine impurity, only the area stained by blood would require washing, and physical intimacy with her would not be permissible—yet the opposite is established by necessity in the religion.
6. The purpose of purification and avoidance of impurities is that the worshipper stand before his Lord in the finest state and the best adornment while conversing with Him, majestic is He.