had she forgotten the days of her menstrual period, or was she experiencing menstruation for the first time? Did either hadith abrogate the other? If so, which one abrogated the other? If a woman suffers from the same condition as Umm Habībah, must she perform a full ritual bath? And if she is instructed to bathe, would this entail great hardship?

Allah Most High has said:

“He has not placed upon you any hardship in religion.”

Is there any disagreement among the imams on this matter?

He replied:

Neither hadith abrogates the other, nor is there any contradiction between them.

The first hadith concerns a woman who has an established menstrual pattern and knows its duration. If she then experiences non-menstrual bleeding, she refrains from prayer for the duration of her usual period. Hence he said:

“Refrain from prayer for as many days as you used to menstruate.”

He also said:

“When your period begins, refrain from prayer; then, when its usual duration has passed, wash the blood off yourself and pray.”

The majority of scholars have adopted this hadith as the basis for ruling that a woman with an established menstrual pattern who experiences non-menstrual bleeding should follow her usual pattern. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī and Imam Ahmad.

They disagree, however, about a woman who can distinguish black blood from red blood: should she give precedence to distinguishing between the types of blood over her usual menstrual pattern, or to her usual pattern over that distinction? Some give precedence to distinguishing between the types of blood. This is the position of al-Shāfiʿī and of Ahmad according to one of the two reports from him.

The second view is that she should give precedence to her usual menstrual pattern. This is the apparent meaning of the hadith, and it is the position of