that one of the two circumambulations takes place at a time when it is valid for her. This, however, does not accord with the school’s position and is open to question.
Section
Irregular bleeding can only be distinguished from menstrual and postnatal bleeding by knowing the maximum duration of menstrual and postnatal bleeding, for it increases and decreases. Allah Most High says:
“Allah knows what every female carries, and what the wombs lose or gain.” [al-Ra'd: 8]
He thus tells us of its decrease and increase.
Section
Menstrual blood flows down from deep within the body to the womb, which collects it throughout the interval of purity. Hence this interval is called a qur' (period), from the expression qaraytu al-mā'a fī al-hawd, meaning “I collected the water in the basin.” Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:
“Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation.” [al-Qiyāmah: 17]
The poet said:
The forelegs of a noble, white, maiden she-camel—
Pure white in hue, never having carried a foal.
That is, she has never held a foetus within her womb. The womb then expels the blood during menstruation. It may expel it in a continuous, uninterrupted flow, or intermittently, a little at a time. If only a few days intervene between two flows of blood, insufficient to constitute an interval of purity separating two menstrual periods, it is known that the second flow [is part of the first and that this is a single menstrual period interrupted by pauses. If, however, many days intervene, constituting a separating interval of purity, it is known that the second flow] is not part of the first. Rather, it is a second menstrual period, consisting of blood that flowed down into the womb and was collected there during the preceding interval of purity.
Section
The Minimum Interval of Purity and the Maximum and Minimum Durations of Menstrual and Postnatal Bleeding
What requires detailed explanation in this chapter is the minimum interval of purity, so that the separation between two menstrual periods may be determined, and the minimum duration of menstruation that [constitutes a menstrual period] which a woman counts towards her waiting period following