Ruling on Purity and Resuming Worship After Cessation of Postnatal Bleeding (Nifās) Source:
This article is derived from the book 500 Questions & Answers for Women, a compilation of Fatawa by the Scholars of the Haramain. Translated by Hafiz Abdullah Saleem.
❖ Question:
Should a woman experiencing postnatal bleeding (nifās) refrain from prayer and fasting for a full forty days, or does the cessation of blood determine when she is purified and can resume acts of worship?
❖ Answer:
There is no fixed minimum or maximum duration for nifās in Islamic law.
The ruling is as follows:➤ As long as blood continues, the woman must abstain from:
- Prayer (ṣalāh)
- Fasting (ṣawm)
- Sexual relations with her husband
➤ If the blood stops, even before forty days (e.g., after ten or five days), then:
✔ She must perform ghusl
✔ She may resume praying and fasting
✔ Her husband may resume intimacy with her
There is no sin or restriction in doing so.
❖ Key Principle:
Nifās is a physical condition, and Islamic rulings depend on its presence or absence.
Therefore:- If bleeding is present, rulings of nifās apply.
- If bleeding has stopped, she is ritually pure and acts of worship become obligatory again.
Exception – Bleeding Exceeds 60 Days:
If postnatal bleeding continues for more than 60 days, then the woman is considered to be in the state of istiḥāḍah (irregular bleeding).
In that case:
- She should sit out of prayer and fasting only for the number of days equivalent to her regular menstrual period.
- After that, she must perform ghusl and resume prayer, even if bleeding continues.
(Fatwa by: Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn رحمه الله)❖ Summary:
✔ A woman does not have to wait 40 days to be purified from nifās.
✔ If bleeding stops before 40 days, she must do ghusl and resume acts of worship.
✔ If bleeding continues beyond 60 days, she is treated as mustaḥāḍah, and normal menstrual patterns apply.
✔ Rulings depend entirely on the presence or absence of bleeding—not on a fixed number of days.
