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Menstrual blood is black and thick, whereas the blood of irregular bleeding is red and thin. This is indicated by the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

“That is only bleeding from a vein, not menstruation. When menstruation begins, refrain from prayer; when its duration has elapsed, wash the blood off yourself and pray.”

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Yellowish and cloudy discharge are subject to the same rulings as blood. If they occur during the days of menstruation, they count as menstruation; during the days of postpartum bleeding, they count as postpartum bleeding; and during the days of irregular bleeding, they count as irregular bleeding. This is our position, as well as that of al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Hanīfa. Al-Tahāwī related that Abū Yūsuf held that such discharge does not count as menstruation unless preceded by blood for a day and a night. This is also implied by Ibn Shihāb’s statement in al-Mudawwana: a woman does not pray as long as she sees any slight discharge, if it occurs around the time of menstruation or during pregnancy.

Some jurists are reported to have held that such discharge counts as menstruation only when it occurs during the customary menstrual days. Thus, if a woman menstruating for the first time sees it, or a woman with an established menstrual pattern sees it after her customary days have ended, or outside her customary days after the minimum period of purity has elapsed, it does not count as menstruation—unlike blood appearing in these circumstances.

The evidence establishing the soundness of our position and the invalidity of this view is the report that women would send ʿĀ’isha—may Allah Most High be pleased with her—small containers holding cotton stained with yellowish menstrual discharge. She would tell them: “Do not be hasty until you see the white discharge.”

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There are two signs of purity: dryness and the white discharge. There is disagreement as to which provides greater certainty. According to