What Is the Legal Status of Spotting Blood Outside of My Period?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

I often get spotting outside my period and hardly get any white discharge. This means I can’t pray sunna dhuhr prayer before zuhr because I perform wudu after the time of prayer comes in to pray the fard, and I need to perform wudu for the pre-fard sunna prayers before the prayer time comes in. I love praying sunna’s so I can get closer to Allah Most High, but it seems it can’t now.

Answer

Thank you for your question. If you are getting spots outside your period, that spotting will be considered abnormal bleeding (istihadha). During this time, one must still pray. The way to pray during istihadha is the following in the Shafi’i school:

• Wait for the prayer time to enter.
• Wash the private part.
• Apply a pad on your underwear or, if you are married, also insert something to stop the bleeding from exiting.
• Make wudu, with the intention of “permission to pray.”
• Cover your nakedness
• Pray as many sunnas as you like.
• Pray your fard prayer.
• Pray your post-fard sunnas
• You may also pick up the Quran and read as much as possible until the next prayer time comes.

Any spots that occur during this prayer time are of no consequence because you took the means to control the filth and purify it. There is no need to make wudu twice as long as you perform one wudu after the entrance of the prayer time. A woman with istihadha will repeat this purification process for each current fard prayer time.

As a note, when a woman does not have istihadha, she does not need to make wudu for the pre-fard sunnas before the prayer time comes in. She can also do it after it comes in. Don’t hesitate to follow up with any questions.

Check this link:
What Means Should a Woman With Dysfunctional Vaginal Bleeding (Istihada) Take to Stop the Bleeding Prior to Prayer?

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqida, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters 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.