By: Dr. Bilal Philips
Question: Must a woman
fast and pray after giving birth if her postnatal
bleeding stops before the forty-day period has elapsed?
Answer: Yes, she
must fast and pray. For women to perform formal prayers
and fast they must be free from discharges of blood.
Once the condition of purity is fulfilled, sexual
intercourse with her husband becomes permissible and
formal prayer and fasting becomes obligatory.
Question:
If a woman’s
menses ceased before dawn, but she did not make her
ghusl until after dawn, is her fast legitimate or
not?
Answer:
Her fast
is correct and so is the fast of a woman bleeding after
childbirth whose bleeding ceases before dawn, because in
both cases, fasting became obligatory on them at the
time that the bleeding ceased. Their cases are similar
to a person in a state of janaabah who does not
make the ghusl before the break of dawn. Such a
person’s fast is correct based on Allaah’s statement
(which means):
“You may now have sexual relations with your
wives and seek what offspring Allaah has ordained for
you. Eat and drink until the white thread of early dawn
becomes distinct to you from the black thread of night”.
[Quran 2:187]
On this
verse, Allaah has made sexual relations allowable until
dawn rises. This permission, if acted upon, would
necessitate ghusl after dawn. Evidence may also
be found in the hadeeth reported by
‘Aa’ishah in which she stated “that the Prophet,
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, used to arise at dawn in
Ramadhaan in a state of janaabah from intercourse with
his wives”. This statement
indicates that he did not make ghusl until after
the rise of dawn.
Question: Is her fast
valid, if a women senses that her menses has started or
she experiences menstrual cramps, but does not see any
blood before sunset, or is she required to make up that
day later?
Answer:
As long
as blood is not discharged until after sunset, her fast
is valid if it was a compulsory fast, and its reward is
not affected in any way if it was a voluntary fast.
Question:
Can a woman fast
on a day in which she sees blood, but she is not sure if
it is her menses or not?
Answer
:Her fast
is valid, because blood is not legally regarded as
menstrual, until she is sure it is menstrual.
Question: What is the
law regarding the fast of a woman who sees occasional
drops of blood during the days when her menses are
expected, but menstrual blood does not begin to flow?
Answer: If the
spotting is during the expected days and she is sure
that it is menstrual blood, it then means that her
period has started and her fast would be invalid if the
spotting occurred before sunset.
Question: What is the
Islamic ruling regarding the fast of a woman who has a
miscarriage followed by bleeding?
Answer : If the
miscarriage occurs before the embryo is developed, the
bleeding which comes with it is not considered as
nifass (post-natal bleeding) so her fast is valid
and she should continue to pray and fast. But if the
miscarriage occurs after the embryo has developed, the
bleeding is considered the same as post-natal bleeding
and her fast is invalidated. She must discontinue
formal prayers and fasting until the bleeding ceases.
Question :If a
pregnant woman bleeds during the fasting hours of
Ramadhaan, does this break her fast?
Answer: Our view
is that pregnant women do not have menses as stated by
Imaam Ahmad, for it is by the cessation of menses that
women determine pregnancy. However, some women may
continue to bleed at regular times, as they did before
the pregnancy. According to the most correct opinion,
this type of continual bleeding at the time of menses is
considered to be true menses and is governed by all the
laws concerning menstrual blood. However, if the
bleeding of the pregnant woman stops and starts again
and it does not resemble menstrual blood, it will not
affect her fast in any way because it is not menses.
Such bleeding may be the result of an accident, or the
strain of lifting something heavy, or falling down,
etc. Therefore, if a pregnant woman bleeds menstrual
blood, it breaks her fast according to the Prophet’s
statement, “Is it not the case
that when you have menses, you do not pray formal
prayers or fast”? If it is not menstrual blood,
it does not invalidate her fast.
Question: Should a
pregnant woman who begins to bleed one or two days
before delivery, break her fast and discontinue formal
prayers?
Answer:
If the
bleeding is accompanied by contractions, it should be
considered as nifaas, due to which fasting should
be stopped and prayer discontinued. On the other hand,
if there are no contractions, it is considered blood due
to illness and she must continue praying and fasting.
Question:
What is
your opinion about women taking birth-control pills (in
order) to prevent the early arrival of their menses and
thereby permitting then to complete the fast along with
everyone else?
Answer: I advise
against this practice because these tablets contain
grave harm as professional doctors have proved this to
me. Women must understand that God destined menses for
them. Therefore, they should happily accept Allaah’s
decision in this matter.
Question:
A woman has
not made up any missed days of her Ramadhaan fasts since
the time fasting became compulsory on her. What should
she do now, especially since ignorance was her excuse
and she has no idea of the total number of days she did
not fast.
Answer: It makes
me very sad to hear that a Muslim woman could make such
serious mistakes. This negligence is either due to
ignorance or to carelessness, and both are disastrous.
The cure for ignorance is knowledge and questioning, and
for carelessness it is fear of Allaah and consciousness
of Him. The woman who has not made up any missed days
is first required to sincerely repent to Allaah for what
she has done and ask His forgiveness. She should then
estimate the number of days she has missed and make them
up. In that way she can absolve herself, and we hope
that Allaah will accept her repentance.
Question: Can a
sixty-five year old woman pray and fast who has not had
any children for the past nineteen years, but has been
bleeding continuously for three years now?
Answer: In a
case like this, the woman must abstain from formal
prayer and abandon fasting for the length of time her
periods used to occur. When the time is complete, she
should make a ghusl, then pray and fast. In
order to pray whenever the time for a compulsory prayer
enters, she should wash her genitals thoroughly, wear a
sanitary napkin and make wudoo before praying.
She must also do the same to make voluntary prayers.
Due to the difficulty involved, she is allowed to pray
Thuhr and ‘Asr together in the time
of Thuhr or in the time of ‘Asr, and the
prayers of Maghrib and ‘Ishaa together in
the time as the former or the latter.
[From: Islamic Rules on
Menstruation and Postal-Natal Bleeding]
Read more of
Dr. Bilal Philips
writings on his site:
www.bilalphilips.com
