Menstruation and Post-childbirth Bleeding

Menstruation is a natural type of blood that flows at regular intervals from a woman’s uterus after puberty. God has laid down certain rules in connection with this, as a concession to the woman, in consideration of her condition.

Menstruation usually lasts 3 to 10 days and nights, varying from woman to woman. Most women have a regular number of days for their monthly menstrual period. The number of days may fluctuate and the period might come a little early or a little late. So when a woman sees menstrual blood, she should consider herself to be menstruating. When it stops, she should consider herself clean. If more blood appears after her menstrual period has ended, but does not have the same color as menstrual blood, it should not be considered as menstruation.

Post-childbirth bleeding is the blood that comes during and after childbirth. It may begin to come 2 or 3 days before delivery and be accompanied by labor pains. There is no minimum limit as to how long a woman will bleed, but generally the upper limit is within 40 days.

Women are prohibited from performing certain acts while they are in this condition, such as follows:

·           She cannot pray (salat) after she begins to bleed and does not have to make up any missed prayers.

·           She cannot observe any obligatory (Ramadan) or supererogatory fasts. She must make up the obligatory fasting days after regaining her ritual cleanliness. If bleeding begins during a supererogatory fasting day upon which she had intended to fast, she must make it up.

·           She can do all pilgrimage rites except circumambulating the Ka‘ba (tawaf).

·           She should avoid mosques or places of worship, and cannot touch the Qur’an, whether the original or in translation. She cannot recite it from memory, but can read the verses of prayer and supplication with the intention of praying. (She cannot perform salat but can supplicate and recite the prayers mentioned in the Qur’an with the intention of saying prayers or making supplications.)

·           A man cannot have sexual intercourse with his wife while she has post-childbirth bleeding, for she is not allowed to make herself available to him. However, he can kiss, hug, or touch her anywhere besides the pubic region. It is better and highly advisable to avoid the area between the navel and the knees.

When a menstruating woman stops bleeding, she must perform a complete ghusl (major ablution). After this, she must resume praying and fasting, can enter the mosque, make tawaf, recite the Qur’an, and engage in allowable sexual intercourse. She must make up the fasting days that she missed during Ramadan, but not the prayers. The same rules apply to women in post-childbirth bleeding.

Istihadha (Non-menstrual Vaginal Bleeding)

In some women, bleeding never stops; in others, it continues for longer than normal. This blood is called istihadha. Likewise, any blood coming before puberty and after menopause is also considered istihadha.

A woman with this condition should calculate when her period would normally end, and then stop praying during the days of her calculated period and follow all of the other menstruation-related rules. For the rest of the days, her bleeding should be treated as istihadha. If she does not have a regular period or does not remember when it used to occur, but can distinguish between the two kinds of blood based on color, thickness, and smell (i.e., menstrual blood is dark, thick, and has a strong odor, while istihadha is bright red, thin, and less disagreeable in smell), she must act accordingly. If she does not have a regular period and cannot distinguish between the two types of blood, she must consider the blood coming for 3 to 10 days every month as menstruation and calculate it from the time she first noticed her vaginal bleeding.

There is no difference between a woman beset by istihadha and one who has a complete cessation of menstrual flow, except as follows:

·           If the first woman wants to perform wudu’ (ritual ablution), she should wash the blood from her vaginal area and then apply a menstrual pad or wrap the area with a clean rag on top of a wad of cotton to catch the blood. Any blood coming out after that is of no account.

·           She must perform wudu’ for every obligatory prayer.

Ghusl (Major Ablution)

Ghusl means major canonical ablution or a complete washing of the body. It becomes obligatory after sexual intercourse, even if only the head of the penis disappears into the vagina. Any discharge of semen, and the completion of menses and post-childbirth bleeding.

Taking ghusl every Friday before the congregational prayer is highly advisable, for the Prophet always did so. Before beginning ghusl, one should make the intention to perform it and, if one will pray after performing it, also the prayer.

Things Forbidden to a Ritually Impure Person

People who are in this state cannot pray, circumambulate the Ka‘ba (tawaf), enter a mosque or place of worship unless necessary, or touch the Qur’an or any of its verses except with a clean cloth or something similar.

What Makes One’s Ghusl Valid?

·           Rinsing the mouth thoroughly so that all of its parts are cleaned properly.

·           Rinsing the nose right up to the nasal bone.

·           Washing all bodily parts thoroughly, including the hair.

The best way to perform ghusl is as follows:

·           Having the intention (niyyat) to cleanse the body from (ritual) impurity while washing oneself.

·           Washing the hands up to the wrists three times.

·           Washing the private parts thoroughly.

·           Removing all filth from all bodily parts.

·           Performing ablution.

·           Washing all bodily parts three times, including the hair thoroughly. No part, even the size of a pinpoint, is allowed to remain dry. Rubbing and pressing the body is not obligatory.

Tayammum (Ablution with Clean Soil)

When a person is too sick to use water or none is around when it is time to pray, he or she can perform tayammum in place of wudu’ and ghusl.

The requirements are as follows:

·           Intending to perform tayammum to remove any impurity.

·           Striking the pure soil lightly with the palms of both hands and passing the palms over the face one time.

·           Striking the pure soil again with one’s palms and rubbing the right and left arms alternately from the fingertips to the elbows.

Tayammum is nullified as soon as the cause for performing it is removed (i.e., the sick person recovers or pure water is found). If a person performs tayammum and then prays, he or she does not have to repeat the prayer if the conditions for it are removed before the time for that particular prayer ends.

Wudu’ (Ablution)

Wudu’ involves washing with water at least once the usually  exposed bodily parts, namely, the face, hands and arms up to (and including) the elbows, and feet, and wiping one-quarter of the head. It is obligatory for any obligatory or supererogatory prayer, circumambulating the Ka‘ba, and touching the Qur’an with bare hands.

Wudu’ is performed in the following manner:

·           Ensure that the water to be used is pure.

·           Intend to perform wudu’ to offer prayer, if you plan to pray after taking it.

·           Recite: “Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim” (i.e., in the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate).

·           Wash the hands up to the wrists three times, and do not miss the parts between the fingers.

·           Clean your mouth with a brush or a finger, and gargle with water three times.

·           Rinse the nostrils with water three times.

·           Wash the face from the forehead to the chin and from ear to ear three times.

·           Wash the right arm followed by the left up to the elbows three times.

·           Wipe at least a quarter of the head with wet hands, pass the wet tips of the little fingers inside and the wet tips of the thumbs outside the ears, and pass the palms over the nape and sides of the neck.

·           Finally, wash the feet up to (and including) the ankles, the right foot first and then the left, taking care to wash in between the toes, each three times.

The obligatory acts are as follows:

·           Washing the face.

·           Washing both arms up to and including the elbows.

·           Wiping a quarter of the head with wet hands.

·           Washing both feet up to and including the ankles.

The following acts nullify wudu’:

·           Whatever comes out from the two private parts (front and back): waste matter, urine, wind, wadi (a thick white secretion discharged after urination), mazi (a white sticky fluid that flows from the sexual organs when thinking about sexual intercourse or foreplay, and so on), and prostatic fluid. Semen, menstrual blood, and post-childbirth blood require ghusl.

·           Emission of blood, pus, or yellow matter from a wound, boil, pimple, or something similar to such an extent that it flows beyond the wound’s mouth.

·           Vomiting a mouthful of matter.

·           Physical contact for pleasure between men and women without any obstacle (e.g., clothes). If the head of one’s penis disappears into a woman’s vagina, ghusl is required.

·           Loss of consciousness through sleep, drowsiness, and so on.

·           Temporary insanity, fainting, hysteria, or intoxication.

·           Audible laughter during prayer.

Wiping over Clean, Indoor Boots (Khuffayn)

While performing wudu’, one can wipe over (the top of) their clean, indoor boots once with wet hands instead of washing the feet.

·           Boots should be waterproof and cover the whole foot up to (and including) the ankles. They must have no holes wider than three fingers in width. It does not matter if their mouths are so wide that the feet can be seen when looking down at them.

·           They must be fit, strong, and tough enough so that the feet would not come out of them, and they should not fall down when walked in for 3 miles.

·           They cannot be made out of wood, glass, or metal.

·           One must put on the boots after washing one’s feet while performing ablution. One can wear it for a whole day if one is resident. If traveling, one can wear it for 3 consecutive days.