as one who is in a state of ritual purity.
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The Prophet ﷺ did not grant her a concession to leave off the prayer; rather, he forbade her to neglect it.
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He ﷺ instructed her to distinguish between her menstrual blood and the blood of istiḥāḍah. She therefore sits out and does not pray during the days of her customary period, because custom is a stronger indicator than all other proofs for differentiating menstrual blood from the blood of istiḥāḍah. If she no longer knows her habit, she distinguishes between the two by their characteristics: menstrual blood is dark, thick, and foul-smelling, whereas istiḥāḍah blood is the opposite.
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It is obligatory to wash away menstrual blood before the prayer, for it is impure, and freedom from impurity is a condition for the validity of prayer.
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A woman experiencing istiḥāḍah must perform ablution for each prayer, and the same ruling applies to anyone with a continual minor impurity such as urinary incontinence, a wound that keeps bleeding, or constant flatulence.
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A menstruating woman is prohibited from praying; it is unlawful for her and any prayer she might perform is invalid. This is the consensus of the scholars.
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A menstruating woman is not required to make up the prayers she missed once she becomes pure. This is inferred from the Prophet’s ﷺ not ordering her to do so in this ḥadith, for delaying clarification beyond the time of need is impermissible.
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The ḥadith is proof that a woman’s own statement about her personal conditions—pregnancy, menstruation, the waiting period and its completion, and the like—is accepted.
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A woman in istiḥāḍah prays even while the blood continues to flow, because with respect to menstruation she is deemed ritually pure.
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One of al-Bukhārī’s routes for this ḥadith contains the wording, “and bathe,” meaning the ritual bath taken after menstruation when its days have ended, not a command to bathe for every prayer.
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The phrase, “then perform ablution for every prayer,” is an additional wording transmitted by al-Bukhārī that Muslim intentionally omitted;