What Should I Do When I Have a Gap of Non-bleeding during My Menses?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

My menstrual blood stops flowing within 2 or 3 days. I take a ghusl on the 4th or 5th day, but it happens most of the time that I notice a few drops of blood or, say, blood spots after a gap of 2 days. What should I do in these circumstances? Can I start praying by just washing off without having a bath? Should I delay the ghusl and wait until it happens, or should I repeat the ghusl?

Answer

Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for seeking out correct knowledge and for your sincerity.

Gap in Bleeding

In the Shafi‘i school, all days of intermittent bleeding and non-bleeding count as menstruation. Therefore, those two days of non-bleeding are considered menstruation. Since you know that this non-bleeding within your period occurs every month, when you see it, you can just assume that you are still menstruation. Only take your ritual bath when you are certain that all the times of bleeding are finished and you see clear or white.

My teacher, Shaykh Hamza Karamali said,

The rule “act according to what you see” is a general rule, and there are some exceptions. One exception is when you have a regular non-bleeding period within your menses. So, for example, if you regularly bleed from days 1 to 6, regularly do not bleed on day 7, and then regularly bleed again on day 8, then there is a strong position in the Shafi‘i school that permits you to assume that day 7 is part of your menses even if you do not see the blood that day. This is contrary to what Imam Nawawi said in some of his works, but Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami classified it as “strong” (wajih) in his commentary on the Minhaj al-Talibin. Shaykh Amjad told me that he asked his teacher, Shaykh Muhammad al-Khatib, whether it was permissible to follow this position, and he replied in the affirmative.

Washing without a Bath

If you did end up taking a ritual bath when your bleeding stopped, and then you saw that the bleeding came back, you must take a ritual bath again when it stops, in order to start praying, as that is the only way to lift major ritual impurity (al-hadath al-akbar).

Please see much more detail here:
The Fiqh of Menstruation (Shafi‘i Fiqh)
A Case of Menstruation

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.