Lesson 15: Laws Specific to Women

Three types of blood come out of women: Ḥayḍ (Monthly Period), Istiḥāḍah (Irregular blood discharge), and Nifās (lochia).

2 Irregular Menses (Istiḥāḍah)

“Istiḥāḍah” blood is a type of Irregular blood discharged from a woman.

One: Identifying the Blood of Istiḥāḍah

1. Most of the time, the blood of Istiḥāḍah is yellow in color and cold; it does not feel pressure or a burning sensation and is also not thick.
2. Sometimes, it comes out black or red, thick, warm, with pressure and a burning sensation (Issue 436).

Two: Types of Istiḥāḍah

There are three types of blood in Istiḥāḍah:

1. Slight bleeding (Qalīlah Istiḥāḍah): It is when the blood only stains a piece of cotton and does not seep into it.
2. Medium bleeding (Mutawassiṭah Istiḥāḍah): The blood seeps into a piece of the cotton but does not reach the handkerchief or pad (that is placed on the woman’s private part).
3. Excessive bleeding (Kathīrah Istiḥāḍah): The blood soaks a cotton piece and reaches the handkerchief or pad (Issue 437).

Three: Laws of Istiḥāḍah

1. Qalīlah Istiḥāḍah: The woman must perform one Wuḍūʾ per prayer, change the cotton, and wash the outside of the vagina with water if blood is reached there (Issue 438).
2. Medium Istiḥāḍah: The women must perform one Ghusl for every morning (Ṣubḥ) prayer and perform acts of Qalīlah Istiḥāḍah for other prayers (Issue 439).
3. Excessive Istiḥāḍah: As a precaution, the woman must change the cotton or purify it with water for each prayer. It is also necessary for her to perform one Ghusl for the morning prayers, one Ghusl for the noon (Ẓuhr) and evening (ʿAṣr) prayers, and one Ghusl for the evening and night prayers (Maghrib andʿIshāʾ). she must not delay between noon and afternoon prayers or similarly between evening and night prayers (Issue 440).

Note: If the Qalīlah Istiḥāḍah turns into medium or excessive Istiḥāḍah, she must perform acts of the last type for the following prayer (Issues 465, 467, & 469).

3. Menstruation (Hayḍ)

One: Characteristics of Hayḍ

1. Definition of Ḥayḍ: It is the blood that is discharged from a woman’s uterus every month for a few days. The monthly period is called the menstrual cycle, or menstrual period (Ḥayḍ), and a woman in her menses is called a ‘ḥāʾiḍ.’
2. Signs of menstrual bleeding: It is usually thick, warm, and either dark or red in color, and it comes out with pressure and irritation (Issue 478).
3. Menstruation period: It cannot be less than three days or more than ten days. The first three days of menstruation must be consecutive (continuous) (Issues 484 & 485).
4. Based on common opinion, the women who are not Sayyidah become post-menopausal (y’isah) after 50 years (Issue 479).

Two: Laws of a Ḥāʾiḍ Woman

1. Things which are unlawful (Ḥarām) for a ḥāʾiḍ woman during menstruation:
2. All acts of worship that must be performed with Wuḍūʾ or Ghusl or tayammum, such as prayer, are unlawful (Ḥarām) for a ḥāʾiḍ Woman.
3. All acts which are unlawful for a junub individual are unlawful for a ḥāʾiḍ woman.
4. Having sexual intercourse is unlawful (Issue 494).
5. The divorce in such a state is void and ineffective (Issue 506).
6. There is no Qaḍā for the prayers that a woman did not perform during her Ḥayḍ. However, she must perform the Qaḍā of the obligatory fasts of the month of Ramaḍān that she missed during that period (Issue513 & 544).

Three: Types of Ḥāi’ḍ Women

There are six types of menstruating women, divided into two categories:

First: Women Who Have Regular Periods

Three types of ḥāi’ḍ women have regular periods every month:

1. A woman with the habit of time and duration:
2. a) A woman who sees blood for two consecutive months.
3. b) Her period begins every month at a specific time and for a fixed number of days, from the first of the month until the seventh.
4. c) In the days of habit, she has the laws of menstruation, and if she sees blood for more than ten days, it has the laws of Istiḥāḍah (Issue 523).
5. A woman with the habit of time:
6. a) A woman who sees blood for two consecutive months at the same time.
7. b) The number of days varies. For example, she sees blood on the first day of two consecutive months, but her bleeding stops on the seventh day of the first month and the eighth day of the second month.
8. c) She should make the first day of each month her menstrual habit (Issue 531).
9. A woman with the habit of duration:
10. a) A woman who sees blood twice consecutively each month for specific days.
11. b) Menstruation times are not the same. The blood is seen on the first day of the first month and the eighth day of the second month.
12. c) All the days that she has seen blood up to ten days are considered the habit of menstruation, and more than that is Istiḥāḍah (Issue 537).

Second: Women Who Have Irregular Periods

There are also three categories:

4. A woman with an irregular period in both number and time (Muḍṭaribah):
5. a) A woman who has seen blood for several months but does not have a fixed habit or whose habit has been disturbed.
6. b) If she sees blood for more than ten days and it has signs of menstruation, she must consider six or seven days as menstruation, and the rest is as Istiḥāḍah (Issue 538).
7. A menarcheal woman (Mubtadiʾah):
8. a) A woman who sees blood for the first time.
9. b) If she sees blood for more than ten days, and it has all the signs of menstruation, she must consider the habit of one of her close relatives to be menstruation, and the rest as Istiḥāḍah (Issues 540 & 541).

6. A forgetful woman (Nāsiyah):
7. a) A woman who has forgotten her habit of menstrual period.
8. b) Between three and ten days, blood with the signs of menstruation is as Ḥayḍ, and for more than ten days, it is as Istiḥāḍah (Issue 543).

4. Lochia (Nifās)

One: The Definition of Nifās

When the first part of a baby’s body emerges from the mother’s womb, the blood that comes out is called Nifās (lochia). It is not more than ten days. A woman in the state of Nifās is called a ‘nufasāʾ (Issue 552).

Two: Lows of Nifās

1. All acts which are obligatory for a ḥāʾiḍ woman are also obligatory for a Nufasāʾ. As a precaution, those acts that are unlawful for a ḥāʾiḍ are also unlawful for nufasāʾ, For example, staying in the mosque and doing other things (Issue 557).
2. Divorcing a woman in the state of Nifās is invalid (Issue 558).
3. It is unlawful for the husband to have sexual relations with a woman in a state of Nifās (Issue 558).
4. If a woman becomes pure of Nifās blood, she must perform Ghusl and her acts of worship (Issue 559).

Exercises:

1. What are the types of Istiḥāḍah?
2. What are the types of ḥāi’ḍ women?
3. What acts are prohibited for ḥāi’ḍ women?

4. What are the lows of Nifās?