In this part of the topic “Menstruation Cycle”, we shall be looking at the rulings concerning women who have a habit of duration and a habit of time and a disordered duration.
Some scenarios of women who have a ‘Habit of Duration’
Scenario 1: If a woman in the last two months has seen blood for 8 days BUT this month she sees it for 13 days, what is her duty? In this situation, she should consider the first 8 days as ‘haidh’ and the rest as ‘istihadha’, because she had a habit of 8 days and this month the flow was more than 10 days.
Scenario 2: If a woman in the last 2 months has seen blood for 8 days BUT this month she sees it for 10 days, what is her duty? In this situation, she should consider all 10 days as ‘haidh’, as the flow was not more than 10 days.
Women who have a habit of time: As was mentioned earlier this is a woman who has seen blood on a particular date in the past 2 months but has no fixed duration. When a woman under this category sees blood for 10 days (and it has all the signs of haidh) then it is all haidh, but if she sees blood for more than 10 days then she must follow the guidelines below:
If the blood seen has signs of haidh then the number of days it has the signs of haidh is ‘haidh’, the rest is istihadha. (If the blood has the signs of haidh and the same signs remain for 13 days, then it is as if there were no signs). If the blood has no signs of haidh, and the only way the woman knows it is haidh is because of her habit of time, then she should consult her family, to verify the normal time duration of the period experienced by female members of her family.
If the majority of the women in her family have similar durations, she should follow their pattern. In this case, the normal duration in the family is considered to be haidh, and the remaining days are istihadha. If the family members have different durations and it is hard to determine, then a woman must calculate the first 7 days as part of her menses, and the rest as istihadha.
Note: consulting your family for the number of days means asking your mother, sisters, paternal aunts and maternal aunts, and grandmothers about their blood cycle (menstruation). Asking about their duration means asking how many days they see blood every month.
Some scenarios of women who have a ‘Habit of Time’
Scenario 1: This woman for the last 2 months has seen blood on one particular date but her duration varied. This month she saw blood on the same date but the flow went on for 10 days. In this situation, all the ten days are considered to be ‘haidh’.
Scenario 2: This woman for the last 2 months has seen blood on one particular date but her duration varied. This month she saw blood on the same date but the flow continued for 13 days. If the blood had all the signs of haidh for 8 days for example, then this woman should consider 8 days as being haidh and the rest as istihadha.
Scenario 3: This woman for the last 2 months has seen blood on one particular date but her duration varied. This month she saw blood on the same date but the flow carried on for 13 days. There were no signs of haidh. In this situation, this woman should consult her family and if for example, her family has a habit of 8 days then this woman should consider 8 days as being haidh and 5 days as istihadha.
Scenario 4: This woman for the last 2 months has seen blood on one particular date but her duration varied. This month she saw blood on the same date but the flow carried on for 13 days. There were no signs of haidh. In this situation, this woman should consult her family and if her family has no particular duration, then she should consider 7 days to be haidh and the rest istihadha.
Scenario 5: This woman for the last 2 months has seen blood on one particular date but her duration varied. This month she saw blood on the same date but the flow carried on for 13 days. There were no signs of haidh. In this situation, this woman should consult her family BUT if she has no family, then she should consider 7 days as haidh and the rest istihadha.
Mudhtaribah: Disordered duration
As we mentioned earlier, in the past 2 months when a woman sees blood on different dates and has no fixed duration at all then she is known as Mudhtaribah. If she sees blood for more than 10 days then she must follow the guidelines below: If the blood has signs of haidh, then the number of days with signs is haidh and the rest is istihadha. (If the blood has the signs of haidh and the same signs remain for 13 days, then it is as if there were no signs).
If the blood has no signs of haidh then the way to calculate the duration is: A woman should consult her family, to verify the normal time duration of the period in the family. Once she has a number. Then she should. Use the number 7 to calculate the # of days of haidh and the # of days of ‘Jum`*’ and the # of days of istihadha. (This will be more clear when we get into different scenarios)
Jum`*: Jum` means following the rules of both haidh and istihadha at the same time. In the days of Jum`, a woman cannot do the things that are haram in haidh but must do all the things that are wajib (obligatory) in istihadha. Since salat is obligatory in istihadha along with ghusl (ritual bath) she must perform ghusl and salat. Since sex is haram (prohibited) in haidh then she should refrain from sex.
Some scenarios of Mudhtariba: Disordered Duration
Scenario 1: This woman in the past 2 months has seen blood on different dates and the blood flow did not have a fixed duration. She saw blood for 13 days and out of those 13 days, there were 8 days where she saw signs of haidh. In this situation, she should consider 8 days as haidh and the rest as istihadha.
Scenario 2: This woman in the past 2 months has seen blood on different dates and the blood flow did not have a fixed duration. Then this month she saw blood for 13 days, and the blood had no signs of haidh. In this situation she must consult her family, to verify the normal time duration of ‘haidh’ in the family. Let us suppose the number of days that make up the normal duration of haidh in her family is 5 days. Since 5 days is less than 7 (the number 7 is what we discussed in ‘B’ above), she should follow these guidelines:
The duration of her haidh is 5 days.
The duration of ‘Jum`” is 2 days (Difference between 5 and 7).
The duration of istihadha is 6 days.
The total duration of blood flow is 13 days.
To be continued!
