Minimum and Maximum Duration of Postpartum Bleeding (Nifas)
Source: Fatawa Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
What is the minimum and maximum duration of nifas (postpartum bleeding)?
Answer:
There is no fixed minimum for nifas, but the maximum duration is forty days.
❀ Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما said:
“The woman experiencing nifas will abstain from prayer and fasting for forty days.”
(Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah: 4/28, al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi: 1/341, with an authentic chain)
❀ Imam al-Tirmidhi رحمه الله said:
“The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, the Tabi‘in, and the scholars after them are unanimously agreed that a woman in nifas does not pray for forty days. However, if she becomes pure before that, she should perform ghusl and start praying. If bleeding continues after forty days, then according to most scholars she should perform prayer. This is also the opinion of Imam Sufyan al-Thawri, Imam Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, Imam al-Shafi‘i, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Imam Ishaq ibn Rahwayh.”
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, under Hadith: 139)
⚑ Note:
All marfu‘ (Prophet-attributed) narrations regarding this matter are weak, but the fatwa of Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما and the consensus of the Ummah suffice as proof.
