Ibn al-Qāsim, the white discharge provides greater certainty. If a woman normally sees it, she should not bathe upon observing dryness until she sees it, unless the wait becomes prolonged. Ibn ʿAbd al-Hakam said that dryness provides greater certainty, so she should not bathe upon seeing the white discharge until she observes dryness, unless the wait becomes prolonged.
Ibn Habīb related from Ibn al-Qāsim and Mutarrif that a woman menstruating for the first time should not bathe until she observes dryness; thereafter, she should act according to the pattern that becomes apparent. In his commentary, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb transmitted from them that if she observes dryness, she should purify herself on that basis, and thereafter take account of whichever sign becomes apparent in her case, whether dryness or white discharge. He said that this accords with analogical reasoning, since both are signs of purity: whichever appears serves in place of the other. There is no distinction in this respect between a woman menstruating for the first time and any other woman. His account is sounder in meaning and clearer upon examination than Ibn Habīb’s report from them, for the latter is apparently self-contradictory.
Section
In our view, a pregnant woman can menstruate, contrary to Abū Hanīfa and to one of al-Shāfiʿī’s two positions. We have much evidence for this, but this is not the place to present it. If her bleeding persists, there are eight views concerning her case:
The first is that she refrains from prayer for her customary menstrual days, without any precautionary extension, then bathes and prays.
The second is that she adds precautionary days beyond her customary menstrual days.
The third is that she continues to refrain from prayer for up to fifteen days.
The fourth distinguishes between early and late pregnancy: early in pregnancy, she refrains from prayer for fifteen days or thereabouts; late in pregnancy, for twenty days or thereabouts. It has also been said: [She refrains from prayer early in pregnancy for between fifteen and twenty days], and late in pregnancy for between twenty and thirty days. This is the fifth view.