and of a woman who can distinguish between the types of blood, and similar women experiencing non-menstrual bleeding—blood that is ruled to be menstrual.

Blood that could be either, but is more likely to be abnormal bleeding. This is the blood of these women that is ruled to be non-menstrual.

Blood whose status is uncertain, with neither possibility outweighing the other. A group of scholars among the followers of al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad and others recognizes this category. They require a woman affected by it to fast and pray, and then make up the fasts. The correct view is that this opinion is invalid for several reasons:

First: Allah Most High says:

“Allah would never let a people go astray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them what they must avoid.”

Allah Most High has explained to the Muslims what a woman experiencing non-menstrual bleeding, or any other woman, must refrain from during menstruation: prayer and fasting. How, then, can it be said that the Sharia contains a state of perpetual uncertainty upon which the Messenger and his community base their rulings? Certainly, particular individuals may experience uncertainty, as when someone doubts whether he has invalidated his state of ritual purity, or concerning doubtful matters of which many people have no knowledge. But uncertainty and ambiguity inherent in the Sharia itself—this is untenable. Those who classify this blood as uncertain make that classification a ruling of the Sharia. They do not say, “We are uncertain.” Someone who is uncertain has no knowledge and therefore cannot make a categorical assertion. Yet these scholars categorically assert that fasting and repeating it are obligatory because of their uncertainty.

Second: The Sharia does not require prayer to be performed twice, nor