How Do I Determine When My Menstrual Period is Over?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch 

Question Summary

How do I determine when my menstrual period is over?

Question Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

If you see any color other than white, regardless of the color, the menstrual period is still present. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

There are essentially three ways one can be sure that their menstrual period is finished, and they must return to praying/fasting, etc… These ways are explained below:

1) One sees a pure white discharge at the end of their period. [Ibid.]

2) The bleeding stops at or after their menstrual habit such that one is reasonably sure that it will not return. Note the menstrual habit is the length of the previous menstruation. [Ibid.]

3) The bleeding continues beyond the maximum length of menstruation: 10 days; in this situation, despite the presence of blood, the menstruation is considered over, and now irregular bleeding has taken its place. [Ibid.]

If any of these situations occur, she must perform the ritual bath (ghusl) and act as she would when pure.

I hope the clarifies the issue
Allah bless you
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.