When Does the New Menstrual Cycle Duration Apply After Childbirth?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
If a woman’s menstrual cycle is 10 days but shortens to 7 days after childbirth, when does the new 7-day duration become her established habit, allowing intimacy after 7 days instead of 10?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
It’s completely normal to have fluctuations in one’s habits—they can change each month if the bleeding and purity remain within the allowed limits. For example, a woman bleeds for 10 days, followed by 20 days of purity, and her next menstrual cycle lasts 7 days, followed by 25 days of purity. These ups and downs are normal and do not affect the rulings. You will be allowed intimacy after the 7 days.
General Advice—Record Your Menses
A woman’s habit is her body’s usual pattern of when blood and purity are seen during the month and for how many days.
Every woman must record her menses, lochia, and purity habits. The date and time any vaginal blood begins, including the spotting of blood, and the date and time any vaginal blood ends. [Ackbarali, The Woman’s Guide to Menstruation Rulings]
It is a personal obligation (fard) for every adult woman to learn the basic rules of menstruation and to ask, as you’ve done, in the case of a complicated or unique situation). The following two books: A translation and explanation of Imam Birgivi’s treatise “The Treasure of Families & Women” (Dhukhr al-Muta’ahhilin wa al-Nisa’) on the advanced fiqh of menstruation, lochia, and abnormal bleeding and A Muslim Womans Guide to Menstruation Rulings are two good books. They are in English and have many practical examples, life experiences, and even illustrative charts to calculate menstruation. See the links below.
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. Insha’Allah, you will receive guidance and direction.
Related Answers and Links
- How to Calculate the Purity Period between Two …What Are the Rulings on Different Vaginal Discharges?
- Istihadha Archives
- Post-Natal Bleeding (Nifas)
- Habit Fluctuation
- Menstruation: A Comprehensive Reader – SeekersGuidance
- The Treasures of Family and Women
- A Muslim Woman’s Guide To Menstruation Rulings by Naielah Ackbarali (Recommended Book)
- Myhayd.app | First Ever Islamic Period Tracking App Personalized For Muslim Women | Hayd Tuhr Istihadah Nifaas Pregnancy
- Free Fiqh of Menstruation Video Series
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.
