Chapter: Menstruation
Menstruation is a blood that, out of Allah’s mercy and wisdom, He places in the woman’s womb as nourishment for her fetus. Once she gives birth, it turns into milk to feed her infant. When a woman is neither pregnant nor nursing, the surplus of that blood emerges at set times; hence it is rare for a pregnant or nursing woman to menstruate. A host of rulings—ritual and otherwise—are tied to the appearance of this blood.
From ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her): Fatimah bint Abī Ḥubayš asked the Prophet ﷺ, “I experience continuous bleeding (istihāḍah) and never become pure. Should I quit the prayer?” He replied, “No. That is only a vein that has ruptured. Rather, refrain from praying for the number of days you normally menstruate, then perform a ritual bath and pray.”
In another wording: “It is not menstruation. When the menstrual period begins, stop praying, and when its usual time has elapsed, wash the blood from yourself and then pray.” ⦗1⦘
Uncommon expressions in the ḥadith
- “Dhaliki” (that) carries a kasrah on the kāf because it addresses a female questioner.
- “ʿIrq” (a vein): meaning a vein that has burst, as one version states. This vein is called al-ʿādhil; it lies at the lower part of the womb, whereas menstrual blood issues from its deepest part.
- “When the ḥayḍah begins”: al-Khaṭṭābī held that the ḥāʾ should be read with kasrah and considered the fatḥ a mistake, since the intended meaning is the state of menstruation. Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and others allowed the fatḥ and deemed it stronger, because what is meant is the menstruation itself.
- Al-Ṣanʿānī observed that the wording “then leave the prayer” (fadʿī al-ṣalāh) is preferable to “then refrain from praying” (fat-rukī al-ṣalāh) because the former is the version on which both narrations agree.
Overall meaning
Fatimah bint Abī Ḥubayš ⦗2⦘ told the Prophet ﷺ that she suffered from persistent non-menstrual bleeding which never ceased, and she asked whether she should abandon the prayer because of it. The Prophet ﷺ replied that she must not leave the prayer, for the only blood that warrants abandoning the prayer is menstrual blood.