for that day or not? And what should she do if she has performed ghusl (the ritual bath) and begun the fast, but then—after the normal length of either menstruation or post-partum bleeding has elapsed—she notices some further discharge? Must she break her fast, or is the fast unaffected?

Answer: With regard to the first point—namely, if a menstruating woman becomes pure in the middle of the day, or a woman in post-partum bleeding becomes pure in the middle of the day—she must take a ghusl, perform the prayer, refrain from food and drink for the remainder of that day, and then make up that whole day at another time. That is what is required of her.

As for the second point—when the bleeding from menstruation or nifas ceases, she takes a ghusl, and then later notices something:

1. The menstruating woman: If her customary period has completely finished, the bleeding has stopped entirely, and she has performed ghusl, and after that she sees something, she should ignore it. Umm ʿAṭiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “We did not count the brownish or yellowish discharge that appears after purity as anything.” Therefore she pays no attention to such discharge.

2. The woman in nifas: If the blood stops before the completion of forty days, she performs ghusl, and then some bleeding returns, she is still considered in nifas, and that returning blood is part of the post-partum bleeding. While it remains, neither fasting nor prayer is valid, because it has come back within the forty-day period. However, if the forty days have been completed, she has bathed, and then some blood appears after the fortieth day, she disregards it—unless it coincides with the days of her pre-pregnancy menstrual cycle, in which case it is treated as menstruation.

In sum, the matter requires detail: when the menstruating woman’s regular cycle has ended