as a matter of juristic preference. This is indicated by his statement in the third Book of Hajj concerning a woman who menstruates during Hajj: the person from whom she has hired her mount must wait for her throughout the full duration of her menstrual bleeding and the additional precautionary days. This indicates that she may perform the circumambulation after the precautionary days, like a woman with irregular bleeding. Ibn Abī Zayd, however, interpreted this to mean that the hire contract between her and the owner of the mount is annulled if her bleeding continues beyond the precautionary days. This interpretation is far-fetched. On this interpretation, Mālik has two positions concerning the maximum duration of menstruation: first, that it is fifteen days; and second, that each woman’s maximum is her usual menstrual period together with the additional precautionary days, up to a total of fifteen days. Abū Hanīfa holds that the maximum duration of menstruation is ten days, a position supported neither by transmitted evidence nor by reasoning.
As for the minimum duration of menstruation, there are six opinions:
The first is that it has no minimum measured in days: a single discharge or spot of blood constitutes menstruation. If it is preceded and followed by an interval of purity separating it from other bleeding, it constitutes a menstrual period that a divorced woman counts towards her prescribed waiting period. If it is not preceded by such an interval of purity, it does not constitute a separate menstrual period; rather, it is menstrual bleeding belonging to the preceding bleeding. If it is preceded by a separating interval of purity but is not followed by one, it likewise does not constitute a separate menstrual period, but belongs to the bleeding that follows it. This is Mālik’s position.
The second is that the minimum duration of menstruation is three days for the purposes of the prescribed waiting period and the waiting period for establishing freedom from pregnancy. Bleeding lasting less than this constitutes menstruation that prohibits intercourse and fasting without cancelling the obligation to fast, and prohibits prayer while cancelling its obligation. This is Ibn Maslama’s position.
The third is that the minimum duration of menstruation is five days, meaning for the purposes of the prescribed waiting period and the waiting period for establishing freedom from pregnancy. There is no disagreement within the school that any blood a woman sees at a time when menstruation is possible for her constitutes menstruation: it prohibits intercourse, fasting, and prayer, and cancels the obligation to pray. The disagreement concerns only whether bleeding lasting less than three or five days constitutes a menstrual period counted towards the waiting period after divorce, as we have explained.
The fourth is the position of the scholars of Iraq: the minimum duration of menstruation is three days. Bleeding lasting less than three days is not accorded the rulings of menstruation, so the woman must make up the prayers of those days.
The fifth is al-Shāfiʿī’s position: the minimum duration of menstruation is one day and one night. It is also reported from ʿAlī ibn