Comprehensive Instructions About Hayd (menses) and Istihadah (irregular menses)

“They asked abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), about women experiencing Hayd (menses) and the tradition in his time. He (the Imam) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah has established three traditions in which he has explained every difficulty for those who hear and understand them so that no one can say anything of his own opinion about it. 1. “One tradition is about one who experiences Hayd (menses) on certain dates for a known period of time without mix and confusion, but she experiences Istihadah (irregular menses) and blood discharge continues. She knows the dates and number of days of the cycle of her Hayd (menses). A woman called Fatimah bint abu Hubaysh experienced Istihadah (irregular menses) and blood discharge continued. She came to ‘Umm Salamah. She asked the Messenger of Allah about it and he said that she must stop performing Salah (prayer) for a number of days, which is equal to the number of days of her Hayd-free period or the days of her Hayd (menses). He (the Messenger of Allah) said it is a (bleeding) vein. He (the Messenger of Allah) commanded her to take Ghusl (bath) (after passing either one of the two above mentioned number of days, namely, the Hayd (menses) free days or the number of days of her Hayd (menses)) and cover herself by passing her clothes between her legs to the other side and perform Salah (prayer). “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘This is one tradition that the Holy prophet has established for women who know the date of their Hayd (menses) free period without mix and confusion. It is because he (the Messenger of Allah) did not ask how many days. He (the Messenger of Allah) did not say that if it increases above such number of days you are in the state of experiencing Istihadah (irregular menses). He (the Messenger of Allah) established a tradition for her in the case of known dates of more or less number after her knowing it (dates) exactly. In the same way my father gave the fatwa when he was asked about a woman experiencing Istihadah (irregular menses). He (the Imam) said, ‘It is only a (bleeding) vein or a kick of Satan.’ “She must stop performing Salah (prayer) for number of the days which is equal to the days of her Hayd (menses)-free period, then take Ghusl (bath) and Wudu’ for every Salah (prayer). It then was asked, ‘Even if it (blood discharge) is flowing?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes even if it is like flowing.’ “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘This is an explanation of Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, it (the explanation) agrees with the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah. This is the tradition about the one who knows the number of days of her Hayd (menses), not the date but only the number, less or more. 2. “This tradition is for one who experiences Hayd (menses) for a number of days but it becomes confused in terms of the number of days due to increase or decrease in such numbers as well as the exact date every month. The tradition for this kind of case is different from the previous one in which one experiences Hayd (menses) during a known number of days and date of every cycle of menses. It is because Fatimah bint abu Hubaysh came to the Holy prophet saying, ‘I continuously experience Hayd (menses) and do not have any menses-free time.’ The Holy prophet, said, ‘That is not Hayd (menses). It is a (bleeding) vein. When Hayd (menses) comes with greater quantity of blood discharge, you must stop performing Salah (prayer); and when it comes with diminished quantity of bleeding, you must take Ghusl (bath), wash the blood clean and perform Salah (prayer).’ “She would sit in a tub that belonged to her sister and yellowish color would rise over the water. Abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ’Do you not hear that the Messenger of Allah commanded this woman to do something other than what he (the Messenger of Allah) had commanded the other woman to do.? Do you not see that he (the Messenger of Allah) did not say to her, ‘Stop performing Salah (prayer) during the days of your Hayd (menses) free period,’ but he (the Messenger of Allah) told her, ‘When it comes with increased quantity stop performing Salah (prayer) and when it comes with diminished quantity, take Ghusl (bath) and perform Salah (prayer).’ This explains that the case of this woman is confused in terms of number of days in which she experiences Hayd (menses). She does not know the exact number of days as well as the exact date. Do you not hear her saying, ‘I continuously experience Hayd (menses) and I do not have any Hayd (menses) free condition.’ My father would say that she experienced Hayd (menses) for seven years, so in a lesser time it is a confused condition and mixed one. “For this reason she needed to know the condition of the quantity of blood discharge and its quality in terms of color and so on. Blood discharge because of Hayd (menses) is of distinguishable black color. If she had known the days of her experiencing Hayd (menses) she would not need to know the color of blood discharge; the tradition about Hayd (menses) is that yellowness and thickness and things above this are during the days of Hayd (menses). When such signs are found it is then all Hayd (menses). If the color of blood is black and so on, it all explains that blood discharge of lesser or greater quantity in the days of Hayd (menses) is all Hayd (menses) when the days are exactly known to her. However, if she does not know the exact date and number of days she then needs to know the quantity of blood discharge and changes in its color, and then she stops performing Salah (prayer) accordingly. I do not find the Holy prophet, saying, ‘Sit (wait) for so and so many days and above such days is Istihadah (irregular menses). He (the Messenger of Allah) did not command the other woman in the first case like this. So also my father gave fatwa in a likewise case. Once a woman in our family experienced Hayd (menses) and she asked my father about it. He (my father) said, ‘If you experience a flooding blood discharge, stop performing Salah (prayer). If you experience bleeding-free time even for an hour, take Ghusl (bath) and perform Salah (prayer).’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘I find my father’s answer in this case different from his answer in the case of one experiencing Istihadah (irregular menses) mentioned in the first tradition. Consider his saying, ‘Stop performing Salah (prayer) for a period equal to the days of your discharge free period.’ This is because of the number of days. In this case he has said, ‘If you experience flooding blood discharge’ then stop performing Salah (prayer). In this case he commanded to see the quantity in terms of increase and decrease and changes in its color and his saying, ‘flooding discharge’ is similar to the statement of the Holy prophet, ‘Blood discharge because of Hayd (menses) is of distinguishable black color.’ My father has called it flooding discharge because of its greater quantity and color. “This is the tradition the Holy prophet has established for the case of women whose habit is confused in terms of number of days. The way for such women to know is by learning about the quantity and quality of blood discharge. 3. “He (the Imam) said, ‘The third tradition established for Istihadah (irregular menses) and Hayd (menses) is about women who do not have a set pattern for their Hayd (menses); it is a confused pattern and habit. The tradition in such case is different from the first and second traditions. This is because once a woman called Hamnah bint Jahsh came to the Messenger of Allah and said, ‘I have experienced an intense Hayd (menses).’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘Fill up with cotton.’ She said, ‘It is more intense than can be controlled with cotton. It is flooding.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘Harness it tightly and follow the rules for Hayd (menses), according to the knowledge of Allah, for six or seven days. Thereafter, you must take Ghusl (bath) and fast twenty-three days or twenty-four days, then take Ghusl (bath) for the time of dawn (morning Salah (prayer)), one Ghusl (bath) for al-Dhuhr, then perform al-‘Asr Salah (prayer) quickly and another for al-Maghrib and perform al-’Isha’ prayer quickly thereafter and take one more Ghusl (bath).’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘I can see that he (the Messenger of Allah) has established in this case a tradition which is different from the traditions for the first and second case of Hayd (menses). It is because the commandment of the Messenger of Allah to her is different from those to the other two women. Consider that if the number of days in her case were less than seven and were it five or less the Messenger of Allah would not command her to consider it Hayd (menses) for seven days. Therefore, he (the Messenger of Allah) would end up commanding her to stop performing Salah (prayer) for certain days when she experienced Istihadah (irregular menses) and not Hayd (menses). So also is the case if her Hayd (menses) was for more than seven days like being ten days or more, he (the Messenger of Allah) would end up commanding her to perform Salah (prayer) when she experienced Hayd (menses). Furthermore what it explains is his words to her, “Follow rules of Hayd (menses) in your condition.” “Following rules of Hayd (menses)” is only for a woman who in fact experiences Hayd (menses). Do you not see that he (the Messenger of Allah) did not say to her to follow the rule of Hayd (menses) for a certain number of days. One more fact that explains this is his words, “according to knowledge of Allah” because it was for her, although all things are in the knowledge of Allah, most High. This explains it clearly that she did not have a pattern in the form of known days before, at all. This is the tradition for one who experiences blood discharge for the first time without stop. The maximum for such Hayd (menses) is seven days and the maximum Hayd-free period is twenty-three days until the pattern of her experiencing Hayd (menses) is established which then is followed. All cases of Istihadah (irregular menses) fall under these three traditions. It all falls under these traditions. If the number of days, more or less, are known, she follows the rules for Hayd (menses) and her habits accordingly when there is no other number and dates other than her days. “That her days become confused because of coming earlier or later and the changes of conditions. The tradition in her case is to find about the quantity and quality, like color of blood and so on, follow that she had no experience in terms of days before and she experiences Hayd (menses) for the first time in which case it (Hayd (menses)) is seven days and the Hayd-free period is twenty-three days. If blood discharge continues for several months, she follows the rule every month as explained for her. If blood discharge stops before the seven days or after more than seven days, she then takes Ghusl (bath) as soon as she finds a Hayd-free time and performs Salah (prayer). She continues to follow such rule until the second month to see if it is in the same pattern and habit as the month before and up to two or three cycles of Hayd (menses), then it means that a distinguishable pattern and habit is established for her. She can follow the rules of Hayd (menses) accordingly. She can now ignore other conditions and this becomes her tradition for future if she experiences Istihadah (irregular menses). “Basing establishment of pattern and habit on the grounds of two or three Hayd (menses) cycle is because of the words of the Messenger of Allah to the one who had known the number of her days that said, ‘Stop performing Salah (prayer) in the days (dates) of your Hayd-free days.’ This explains that one Hayd-free period is not enough to establish a pattern and habit. He (the Messenger of Allah) did not say one Hayd-free period. He set it for her to be three Hayd-free periods. The minimum is two cycles of Hayd-free periods or more. “When days and her pattern and habit are confused because of increase or decrease in number of days and the pattern is lost even in terms of quality and color, she then follows the rules according to the quantity of blood discharge. She does not have other traditions to follow except this because of the words of the Messenger of Allah, ‘When blood discharge is increased, stop performing Salah (prayer), and when it decreases take Ghusl (bath).’ Also because of the words of the Messenger of Allah, ‘Blood of Hayd (menses) is distinguishably of black color.’ It is like the statement of my father, ‘When you experience flooding blood discharge.’ If this is not applicable and blood discharge continues, it is Istihadah (irregular menses) when the color of blood is of one kind and one condition, in this case the tradition to follow is seven days (of Hayd (menses)) and twenty-three days of Hayd-free period. It is because her case is like the case of Hamnah who said, ‘Blood discharge from me is flooding.’”