This ḥadith therefore shows that the yellowish discharge (ṣufrah) is not menstrual blood, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Menstrual blood is black and recognizable.” Ibn Ḥazm and the majority of the Ẓāhirī school adopt this view, as he states in al-Muḥallā (2/168).

As for any reddish (ḥumrah) or yellowish discharge that appears after a woman has become pure, it counts for nothing. This is the position of Abū Ḥanīfah, Sufyān al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and others.

ʿĀʾishah, the Prophet’s wife, related that Umm Ḥabībah bint Jahsh—sister-in-law of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the wife of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf—suffered from continuous bleeding for seven years. She asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it, and he said, “This is not a menstrual period; it is only a vein. Bathe, then perform the prayer.” ʿĀʾishah added, “She used to bathe in a large basin in the room of her sister Zaynab bint Jahsh until the redness of the blood coloured the water.” (Mus: 181; D: 44; N: 655; Maj: 215–216; Mi: 196–198, 199, 200; Ḥam: 6–83, 187). Muslim also recorded it (181–182), as did N (65) and D (43).

It is likewise narrated from ʿĀʾishah that the Prophet ﷺ was observing iʿtikāf with one of his wives while she was suffering from non-menstrual bleeding and could see the blood, so a basin was sometimes placed beneath her to catch it. It is reported that ʿĀʾishah once saw water the colour of safflower and said, “This is something so-and-so used to experience.” (B: 26; Mi: 217), and in another wording