[Chapter Three: Rulings Particular to Menstruation, Abnormal Bleeding, and Post-Childbirth Bleeding]
[First: Menstruation]
[Definition of Menstruation]

Chapter Three
Rulings Particular to Menstruation,
Abnormal Bleeding, and Post-Childbirth Bleeding

First: Menstruation

1 – Definition of menstruation: Linguistically, hayd (menstruation) denotes “flowing.” In the legal sense it is the blood that issues from the deepest part of a woman’s womb at set intervals, without being caused by illness or injury. Allah has ordained this for the daughters of Adam: He created the blood in the womb to nourish the child during pregnancy; after birth it turns into milk. When a woman is neither pregnant nor nursing, the blood has no use and therefore emerges at fixed times known by custom as the monthly cycle.

[Age of Menstruation]

2 – Age of menstruation: The age at which a woman ordinarily begins to menstruate is, in most cases, from nine to fifty years. The Exalted says, “And for such of your women as despair of menstruation—if you are in doubt—their waiting period is three months, as well as for those who have not yet menstruated” (At-Talāq 65:4). (1) “Those who despair” refers to women who have reached fifty years of age, while “those who have not