Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Burhan,

A little clarification required. What is the maximum time period a woman is allowed to go on without fasting during her periods. What I have been hearing is that 5 days are the minumum and 7 are maximum. If a woman has a gusl after completion of 7 days and keeps a fast on the 8th day and then during that day she has slight spotting, does the fast still become null and void? If yes, wouldn`t this be unfair to those ladies who have a genuine problem here? Just one impure drop can spoil such a noble day? Can`t we just wash ourselves and wear clean clothes and continue our prayers? Please help.

Thanx and regards. 

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Answer:

Maximum period of menses fast

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.72

Women with Prolonged Flows of Blood

Islam defines such an occurrence as the flowing of blood outside of the regular time. This usually happens in three specific cases.

In the first case, the woman knows that her flow of menstrual blood is lasting longer than usual. In such a case, she will act according to her customary period, and the remainder will be considered days of ‘prolonged blood flows’. This is based on the hadith of Umm Salamah, in which she asked the Messenger of Allah (saws) about this condition. He (saws) said, "She should wait for the days and nights of her normal period and figure them out of the month, and she should leave the prayer (and fasts) during those days. (Afterwards) she should perform ghusl, tighten something around her private parts and then pray (and fast)." (Related by Bukhari and Muslim).

Al-Khattabi holds, "That regulation is for the woman who is experiencing ‘prolonged blood flows’. If the blood is flowing, the Prophet ordered her to leave the prayer during her regular period, and to perform ghusl after her customary time has passed. Then, she becomes just like any other purified person."

In the second case, a woman does not know her period well enough to determine if she is experiencing menstrual bleeding or a prolonged flow of blood. In that case, her menstruation is considered to be six or seven days, which is the most common among women.

Said Jamnah bint Jahsh, "I had a very strong prolonged flow of blood. I went to the Prophet (saws) to ask him about it. When I asked him if I had to stop praying and fasting, he (saws) said 'Tie around a cloth, and it will stop.' I said, 'It is greater than that.' He (saws) said, 'Curb it.' I said, 'It flows greatly.' He (saws) then said, 'You may do one of two things: either one will suffice. Which one you are able to do you know best. This is a strike from Satan. Be on your period for six or seven days, which Allah knows, and then perform ghusl until you see that you are clean. Pray for fourteen nights or thirteen nights and days and fast, and that will be sufficient for you. Do that every month as the other women become pure and menstruate. If you can, you may delay the noon prayer and hasten the afternoon prayer. Perform gh usl and pray the noon and afternoon prayers together. Then delay the sunset and hasten the night prayers and pray them together. Perform ghusl for the morning prayer and pray it. This is how you may pray and fast if you have the ability to do so..." And he said, "That is the more loved way to me."

Al-Khattabi observes, in a note to this hadith, that this is for the woman who is a "beginner" and does not know her regular days of menstruation. The Prophet told her to act according to the customary situation of women, and to consider herself as having her period only once a month, like most women. His statement, 'As women menstruate and as they become pure' points to this fact. This is by analogy to the affairs of women with respect to each other in menstruation, pregnancy, maturity and other affairs of theirs."

In the third case, a woman has a regular period, but she is able to distinguish the blood. She should, therefore, behave according to the type of blood she sees. Fatimah bint Abu Hubaish had a ‘prolonged flow of blood’, and the Prophet (saws) told her, "If it is menstrual blood, it is dark and recognizable. If you have that, abstain from the prayer (and fast). If it is other than that, make ablution and pray (and fast), for it is a vein."

Your Question: What is the maximum time period a woman is allowed to go on without fasting during her periods. What I have been hearing is that 5 days are the minumum and 7 are maximum.

Nature has bestowed a specific menses period for each women, and the time for each woman may vary slightly; but generally the period is indeed between 5 and 7 days. Each woman knows her regular number of days in her menstrual cycle, and if the blood flows for more than her regular number of days in her menses, she would be deemed to have a ‘prolonged blood flow’.

Your Question: If a woman has a gusl after completion of 7 days and keeps a fast on the 8th day and then during that day she has slight spotting, does the fast still become null and void?

Fatimah bint Abu Hubaish had a ‘prolonged flow of blood’, and the Prophet (saws) told her, "If it is menstrual blood, it is dark and recognizable. If you have that, abstain from the prayer (and fast). If it is other than that, make ablution and pray (and fast), for it is a vein."

If the woman recognizes the blood as dark and menstrual, and it is only one day above her regular menses cycle of seven days, it would be better and purer to break the fast and make it up later. But if the blood flow is prolonged way beyond her regular menstrual cycle days, or if the blood is not menstrual, but rather only a ‘spotting’, she is pure from her menstruation and must continue her fast as normal.

Your Question: Can`t we just wash ourselves and wear clean clothes and continue our prayers?

The woman should determine her regular cycle of menstruation days, and after the regular days of menstruation have elapsed she should purify herself and make herself available to pray and fast as her Lord has commanded her.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan