The woman with a regular habit who cannot distinguish between the two kinds of blood

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Umm Habibah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), who was the wife of Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him), complained to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about the blood. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Wait for as long as your menstruation used to hold you back, then take a ritual bath," and she used to take a ritual bath for every prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about the blood. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I saw her tub filled with blood. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "Wait for as long as your menstruation used to hold you back, then take a ritual bath."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Umm Habibah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for a ruling, saying: I have prolonged bleeding (istihadah). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That is a vein, so take a ritual bath, then pray." She used to take a ritual bath for every prayer.

(a) Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her) told me that she instructed Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her), or Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her) herself told me that Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her) instructed her, to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed her: "She should sit out the days she used to sit out (that is, her days of menstruation), then take a ritual bath."
(b) It is reported from al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him), from Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him), from Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her), concerning Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her); he mentioned a story about how she should take her ritual bath, in which it says: when she sees yellowness on top of the water.
(c) It is reported from Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) concerning Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her); he mentioned her prolonged bleeding, and that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed her to refrain from the prayer when she saw black blood.
(d) The narration of Hisham bin Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him), from his father (may Allah have mercy on him), from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), indicates that Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her) used to distinguish between the two kinds of blood. The narration of Suhayl is questionable, and so is the chain of his hadith; moreover, the second narration from him indicates that he did not preserve it as he should have.

(a) It is narrated from Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) that Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her) told him that she came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained of the blood. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "That is a vein, so watch: when your menstruation comes, do not pray, and when the menstruation has passed, purify yourself, then pray in the time between one period and the next."
(b) In this hadith there is an indication that he (al-Mundhir) did not preserve it, namely Urwah hearing it directly from Sayyidah Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her), for Hisham bin Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) has made clear that his father heard the story of Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her) from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). His (Hisham's) narration is more sahih in both chain and text than the narration of al-Mundhir bin al-Mughirah.
(c) Imam Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) says: It is narrated from Zaynab bint Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Umm Habibah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) had prolonged bleeding (istihadah), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed her to abandon the prayer during the days of her menstruation, then take a ritual bath and pray. Imam Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Qatadah did not hear anything from Urwah.
(d) The Shaykh says: The narration of Irak bin Malik about the case of Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), which comes through Urwah from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), is more sahih than this narration. The narration of Habib bin Abi Thabit, from Urwah from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), concerning Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with her) is weak, and an explanation of its weakness will come shortly. Likewise the hadith of Uthman bin Sa'd al-Katib, from Ibn Abi Mulaykah from Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), is also weak.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Buhayyah (may Allah be pleased with her): I heard a woman asking Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) about menstruation; she did not know how to pray. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about a woman whose menstruation had become disordered and who kept bleeding, and she did not know how to pray. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed me to tell her: "She should wait as long as she used to menstruate each month, and that is her proper menstruation; then she should count that as her habit."
In the hadith of Isma'il it says: "She should sit and estimate that in days and nights and abandon the prayer, then take a ritual bath and purify herself well, then bind herself with a cloth, then pray. I hope that this is from Satan, and that, if Allah wills, Allah will take it away from you." She said: I instructed her, she did so, and Allah Almighty removed her ailment. So you too instruct your companions with this.

(a) It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a woman kept bleeding. Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on her behalf, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let her look at the number of days and nights in the month during which she used to menstruate before, and let her abandon the prayer for that amount of the month. When she has passed that, let her take a ritual bath, bind herself with a cloth, then pray." (b) These are the words of the hadith of Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him). This same hadith was mentioned by Imam Malik bin Anas in al-Muwatta' and by Imam Abu Dawud in his Sunan.
However, Sulayman bin Yasar did not hear it from Umm Salamah.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a woman kept bleeding. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked about her, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let her look at the number of days and nights in the month during which she used to menstruate before, and abandon the prayer on that account. When that has passed, at the time of prayer let her take a ritual bath, bind herself with a cloth and pray."

Sulayman bin Yasar (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from a man of the Ansar (may Allah be pleased with him) that a woman bled continuously. He narrated a hadith with the same meaning as that of al-Layth and said: "When that amount has passed and the time of prayer has come, she should take a ritual bath," and the rest is the same.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a woman bled continuously. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said to her: Ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let her look at the number of days and nights in the month during which she used to menstruate before, and abandon the prayer for that many days; then take a ritual bath, bind yourself with a cloth and pray."

Nafi' (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates, with the chain of al-Layth (may Allah have mercy on him) and with the same meaning, that she should abandon the prayer for that length of time, then when the time of prayer comes she should take a ritual bath, bind herself with a cloth and pray.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a woman kept bleeding. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked about her, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let her look at the number of her days and nights in the month during which she used to menstruate before, and abandon the prayer on that account. When that has passed and the time of prayer has come, let her take a ritual bath, bind herself with a cloth and pray."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a woman kept bleeding. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked about her, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let her look at the number of her days and nights in the month during which she used to menstruate before, and abandon the prayer on that account. When that (period) has passed, let her take a ritual bath, bind herself with a cloth and pray."

(a) It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) developed prolonged bleeding (istihadah). She used to bathe from a tub of hers, and when she came out yellowness would be prevailing. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on her behalf, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let her look at the days of her qur' and the days of her menstruation and abandon the prayer during them, and on the other days let her take a ritual bath, bind herself with a cloth and pray." (b) The hadith of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) concerning Sayyidah Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh is more sahih than this narration. (c) There is an indication in this hadith that the woman for whom Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked was a woman other than her (Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her). If her name is correct in the hadith of Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), then it is possible that she had two states. In one state during her prolonged bleeding she could distinguish between the two kinds of blood (prolonged bleeding and menstruation), so he (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed her to abandon the prayer when menstruation came and to pray after it had gone. In the other state she could not distinguish, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed her to go back to her habit. Other possibilities may also exist. And Allah knows best. Abu Salamah narrates it from Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) without the name.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said about the woman with prolonged bleeding (istihadah): "She should look at the number of her days and nights during which she used to menstruate, then take a ritual bath and pray."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her): I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about the woman with prolonged bleeding (istihadah), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "She should count the days of her menstruation and sit them out, then take a ritual bath at each purification, then bind herself and pray."
It is not known except through Ja'far bin Sulayman. And Allah knows best.

(a) It is narrated from Abu Ja'far that Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her) had prolonged bleeding (istihadah). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed her: "When her days of menstruation have passed, she should take a ritual bath and pray." (b) Imam Ahmad (al-Bayhaqi) (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the version Ibn Khuzaymah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from al-Utaridi, from Hafs bin Ghiyath, from al-Ala' is more complete than this. (c) Imam Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from Sayyiduna Ali and Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the woman with prolonged bleeding should sit out the days of her menstruation. Likewise Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it from Qamir, the wife of Masruq, from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). This is the view of al-Hasan, Sa'id bin al-Musayyib, Ata, Makhul, Ibrahim, Salim and al-Qasim: that the woman with prolonged bleeding abandons the prayer during the days of her menstruation.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "The woman with prolonged bleeding (istihadah) should abandon the prayer during the days of her menstruation, then take a ritual bath, and perform ablution for every prayer."

It is narrated from Talq bin Habib (may Allah have mercy on him) that a woman wrote to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) seeking a ruling about her bleeding, which had continued for two years, and she wrote earnestly adjuring him that if he had knowledge he should inform her of it. He said: "She should sit out the time of her menstruation, then take a ritual bath and pray." Two months had not passed over her before she became pure.