Prayer and Menstruation

Question: When a woman’s menstrual period ends, is she required to make up the prayers she missed, just as she must make up the fasts?

Answer: No. A menstruating woman does not make up the prayers, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never instructed menstruating women to do so; the prayer is simply waived for her.

For that reason, when a woman once asked ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), “Why must a menstruating woman make up the fasts but not the prayers?” she replied, “Are you a Harūriyyah?”—for such questions were characteristic of the Khārijites. The woman said, “No, I am not a Harūriyyah; I am merely asking.” ʿĀʾishah then said, “We were commanded to make up the fasts, but we were not commanded to make up the prayers.”

The same ruling applies to nifās (postnatal bleeding), for it shares the legal rulings of menstruation.

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Question: If a woman’s period begins after the time of an obligatory prayer has entered, must she make up that prayer once her cycle ends?

Answer: Yes. If the time for a prescribed prayer has arrived and, before she can perform it, her menses starts, then when the bleeding stops and she performs the ritual bath, she must make up that prayer immediately. The prayer became obligatory for her as soon as its time began, but she was prevented from performing it. Once the impediment is removed, she is required to make up the missed prayer at once, because missed prayers must be made up without delay.

Question: Suppose she becomes pure and performs ghusl while the time for that same obligatory prayer has not yet expired. Is she required to perform the prayer then?