Do I Make Up a Prayer That Entered Before My Period Began?


Hanafi Fiqh
Question: Do I make up a prayer that entered before my period began?
Answer:
Dear questioner,
May Allah, Most High reward you abundantly for your desire to increase in knowledge.
1. According to the Hanafi School, you are not obligated to make up this prayer.
A woman is held accountable for prayer depending on what her state is at the end of the prayer time. If the prayer time enters while she is not on her period but ends while she is on her period, then she does not have to make up that particular prayer. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Manhal al-Waridin]
Do not feel that you need to make up this prayer even though it is not obligatory. Allah, Most High commands us to follow the rules of the Religion and knows our intentions better than ourselves.
2. If you are confident that discharge came out during prayer, then you must repeat the prayer. If you are confident that it did not, then you do not repeat the prayer. If you are unsure:
  1. You may repeat the prayer if this is a rare occurrence.
  2. If you are someone who always doubts themselves on this issue, then do not repeat the prayer as this is a form of waswasa.
When a woman’s period is drawing near, she should wear a kursuf or cotton liner. This will help her gauge exactly when discharge comes out.
And Allah knows best,
[Ustadh] Omar Popal
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani