– Ustuhīḍat: the hamzah is read with ḍamma, the sīn is silent, and the tāʾ is opened. The expression “ustuhīḍat al-marʾah” means “the woman suffered istiḥāḍah,” a passive construction that designates the woman as a mustaḥāḍah (one experiencing non-menstrual bleeding).
– Ḥayḍah: with a fatḥah on the ḥāʾ. It is the verbal noun derived from the previous verb. With the fatḥah it denotes a single occurrence of bleeding, whereas with a kasrah it refers to the whole condition or state.
– Kathīrah shadīdah: “abundant and severe,” i.e. long in duration and heavy in flow.
– Rakḍah: with a fatḥah on the first consonant, a silent kāf, then a dotted ḍād and a tāʾ. Literally rakḍ is “to strike with the foot,” as in, “Strike with your foot” (Q 38:42). Here it describes a blow with which Satan bewildered this believing woman in matters of her religion.
– Istanqayti: Abū al-Wafāʾ notes that this word appears with an alif in some copies, but the correct form is istanqayti, from naqā (to cleanse). Al-naqāʾ is purity, meaning the cessation of blood.
– Fataḥayyiḍī: “Consider yourself menstruating.” One says, “taḥayyaḍat al-marʾah” when a woman refrains from prayer and fasting during her menstrual period.
– wa-dhāliki … wa: the kāf carries a kasrah because the address is to a female.
- Points derived from the ḥadith:
- Women suffering istiḥāḍah lived at the time of the Prophet ﷺ; they would come to him, ask, and he would direct them to what Allah had legislated for them. Muslim women today should likewise consult qualified scholars about any matter of their religion that is unclear to them, even issues related to intimate matters.
- Istiḥāḍah is not normal menstruation; it is an ailment that afflicts a woman through Satan, who courses through the child of Adam like blood and strives to confound a person’s worship by every means of harm Allah has permitted him.
This satanic “kick” is called in another ḥadith “a vein.”