InIslam, theIstihadha (Arabic:اِسْتِحَاضَةٌ;flowing blood) represents a disturbance of themenstrual cycle of thewoman which makes it difficult for her to perform some religious rituals (ibadah).[1][2]
The woman who experiences the effects ofIstihadha is calledMustahadha (Arabic:مُسْتَحَاضَةٌ) and who suffers either from excessive blood flow during the usualmenstrual cycle (calledmenorrhagia) or bleeding outside the normal period ofmenstruation (calledmetrorrhagia).[3]
A woman is thus considered amustahadha if she continuously releases vaginal blood and continues to bleed after having already completed her usual period of menstruation.[4]
This is howIstihadha is seen to be vaginal bleeding caused by reasons other than menstruation or childbirth.[5]
For some women, this bleeding never stops, and for others, it continues for longer than a normal period, but it stops temporarily for a short time.[6]
The jurists (fuqaha) said that the case of a woman'smenstrual period (istihadha) does not waive the obligatory prayer on her behalf, because this woman is pure and can read and recite theQuran, and since the ruling onistihadha blood is different from the impurity ofmenstrual blood, it is sufficient for a woman's menstrual period to purify herself of blood that is in excess of her usual monthly habit in order to read theQuran from memorizing it or from themus'haf or during prayer (salah).[7]
The scholars relied on the permissibility of reading (tilawa) theQuran on the fact thatistihadha is a minor invalidating event that requires only the reintroduction of ablution (wudu), so this condition does not nullify the obligation (wajib) of prayer and does not prevent its validity, nor is it forbidden to read (qiraat) theQuran, nor touch themus'haf, nor enter the prayer hall in themosque or circumambulate (tawaf) around theKaaba.[8]
If this blood comes under the same ruling asvaginal bleeding orgynecologic hemorrhage, then the affected woman is required to withhold the blood as much as possible through a piece of cloth, cotton and linen, and she performs ablution after hiding the blood for the time of each prayer upon entering its time (salah times) as a matter of obligatory (fard) among the majority of jurists, and as a desirable (mustahabb) as well as went to that ImamMalik ibn Anas.[9][10]
A woman must abstain fromfasting only at the time of her period and the occurrence of her monthlymenstruation cycle, and if thebleeding continues with her and menstruation does not stop, then this means that she is suffering fromvaginal bleeding.[11][12]
If she has a steady habit in her number and time, then she refrains from fasting for the duration of her period only, then she bathes (ghusl), prays and fasts even if there is bleeding on her, because it is menstruation blood that is caused by illness, surgery, stress or falls, so she is not prevented from performing the acts of worship (ibadah) imposed on her, and she is in the same ruling as immaculate women.[13]
Based on that, thesharia ruling on the fasting of a woman who ismustahadhah is then a correct fasting, whether her fast is adesirable fast (nafilah) or an obligatory fast (fard), and this saying was taken by theHanafi,Shafi'i andHanbali jurists.[14]
Since her fast is valid, themustahadha will make up the days of her menstruation if she knows that, either by the time of the month's period, or by the correct distinction between the nature, color and smell of the unclean normal blood ofhaydh and the pure blood ofistihadha.[15]
In Islam, havingsexual intercourse between a husband and hismustahadha wife with blood in hervagina is considered harmful to both spouses.[16]
Islamic law permits women to have penetrative vaginal intercourse during the days ofpurity, except that she (the mustahaadhat- the one with the menstrual overflow) must wash any traces of blood from her vagina before beginningsexual penetration with her husband.[17][18]
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