How Do I Understand My Irregular Bleeding?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

1) On the sixth day after my period, I would be pure and pray, (after 5 days of bleeding.) When I started to take birth control pills and then stopped them,  my bleeding became irregular. I get purity on the fifth day or seventh or eighth or ninth day. Should I pray on the sixth day as I used to, irrespective of bleeding and spotting? 

2)  My friend has no regular day of purity. She gets her period after 2 or 3 months, usually bleeds 3 or 4 days, then has spotting. She gets her purity sometimes on the seventh, fourth, or eighth day. She has no specific day of purity. So when should she pray?

Answer

Thank you for your question. 

1) You should not pray as you used to, on your sixth day. You should only start to pray when you no longer see any color and your discharge is white or clear. If your period lasts a different length of time every month, there is no problem with it, as long as it is within 10 days, according to the Hanafi school. See this link about judging the end of your period.

How Can I Know the End of My Menstrual Period?

How Can I Judge When My Menstrual Period Has Ended?

2) The same thing applies to your friend. When her bleeding stops and her discharge is white or clear, that is the right time to take a ghusl and start praying. The period does not need to be the same length every month. She should not follow anything other than what she sees. As long as the period is ending within 10 days, (according to the Hanafi school), there is no problem. 

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad 
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied Aqidah, Fiqh, Tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied Fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.