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Fatwa CenterMaximum and minimum period of menstruation
Question
Salam Alaikum I had my period on 4/13/2014. that time I was taking birth control pills.on the 4/23/2014 I had the paraguard iud inserted.4/25/2014 I started to bleed for 5 days and I did not pray.after that I took ashower and I satred to pray but on 5/10/2014 i started to beed again. my question is : is that a period or not. what to do. thank you
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
The total number of the days on which you experienced bleeding cannot be considered menstruation, because the period of bleeding added to the days of purity in between the bleeding intervals exceeds 15 days, which is the maximum period of menstruation as set by Sharee'ah. Please refer to Fataawa 98693 and 91444.
Also, the period of purity between the two periods of bleeding did not reach 13 days or more, which is the minimum length of the period of purity between two menstrual periods. Since this is the case, what you have experienced is Istihaadhah (bleeding outside the time of monthly period).
Hence, you should count the days equal to your regular menstrual period and consider those as days of menstruation and the extra days are to be considered as Istihaadhah.
If you do not have a regular bleeding pattern that you know of, then what you distinguish as having the features of menstrual bleeding, like blackish color, thickness, the usual smell, and accompanying pain, then you should consider this as menses and you should consider what is beyond this as Istihaadhah.
If you do not have a regular bleeding pattern and you cannot distinguish the menses bleeding, then you should count the menstruation as 6 or 7 days when you first see the bleeding and consider it as menses, and anything beyond this period is considered as Istihaadhah. After the passing of the days which are counted as menses, you should perform Ghusl (ritual bath) and then use a sanitary pad or the like, and perform ablution for every prayer after its time has begun, and then pray with this ablution the obligatory prayer and any supererogatory prayers that you wish until the time of this prayer ends. After you have performed Ghusl, all of the religious rulings for women in state of purity apply to you during Istihaadhah.
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