Menstruation: Abnormal bleeding

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Dear Shaykh, I’ve got a question from my wife about menstruation. I have little bit understanding about the fiqh of menstration but the following situation I could not solve yet. Hopefully you can be of help. Normally my wife always has a certain cycle for her period of menstruation. But now it was a little bit different. Let me try to explain. Her period started on Thursday the 7th of March around 12.30 and ended on Monday the 11th around 6.00 in the morning.

From Monday the 11th of March 6.00 till Tuesday the 26th of March 5.00 she was clean. From the 26th of march 5.00 till the 30th of march 6.00 she bleeded again. From the 30th of march 6.00 till the 3rd of April 23.00 she was clean. On the 3rd of April 23.00 she started to bleed again. Her question is as follows:

Does the period from the 26th of March till the 30th of March count as her menstruation period or does the new bleeding which started on 3rd of April count as her menstruation? Also, which period counts as istihaada and which period counts as hayd? The period from the 26th till the 30th, for her it did not feel like a normal menstruation. But the bleeding that started on the 3rd does feel like a normal one. I hope I’m clear enough with the above and hope that we will receive an answer as soon as possible.

Additional information on the months prior to March: In January her period started on the 7th around 12.30 and it ended on the 13th around 5.30.

From the 13th of January till the 4th of February she was clean. Her next period started on the 4th of February around 12.30 and ended on the 10th. From the 10th of February till the 7th of March 12.30 she was clean.

 

Answered by Umm Yusuf Abdul Sattar
Verified by Mufti Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful

First, we would like to commend you for keeping such an accurate and detailed record of your bleeding and purity. Having the dates, as well start and end times, allows us to complete precise calculations.

In situations of abnormal bleeding, we use a woman’s previous cycles to help her determine which part of her bleeding is menstruation, which is purity, and which is istihada. Istihada is that blood that a woman experiences that is not menstruation. During istihada, a woman should complete her ritual obligations, such as fasting and praying.

In your situation, we would assign 3 days, 7 hours as menstruation and 25 days as purity. The bleeding you experienced from March 26 to March 30 will be taken as purity/istihada, and not menstruation. To reach the allotted 25 days, you will need to wait an additional 1 day, 19.5 hours after you began bleeding on April 3 (11 pm); from that point, you will count 3 days and 7 hours of menstruation.

We’ve created a table that lays out the information you provided, as well as the ruling for this specific situation. You should continue to apply this pattern as long as you experience irregular bleeding. Should anything change, you should consult with a scholar, as the rulings are based on a specific set of circumstances.

Allah knows best