When To Start Calculating Nifas After Miscarriage


Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question Summary

In the Shafi’i School, what is the ruling when a woman miscarried after being pregnant for one month? When does she start counting the days of post-partum bleeding (nifas)? Does she start counting from the time she starts spotting or after she has her womb scraped?

I ask because I read that post-partum bleeding (nifas) only starts once the womb is entirely free of the fetus or baby, according to the Shafi’i School.

Question Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

May Allah alleviate our difficulties, ease our pain, content our hearts, and guide us to that which is pleasing to Him, Amin.

Post-Partum Bleeding After a Miscarriage

The bleeding after a miscarriage is considered post-partum bleeding (nifas). A woman should start counting the post-partum bleeding from when the fetus, or that which would become a fetus, exits the womb. [Ba ’Ali Ba ‘Ishn, Bushra Al-Karim]

In the past, the emptying of the womb was a natural process. Today the womb-scraping presents a more definable event to track the bleeding, and Allah knows best.

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.