Hanafi Fiqh – Lessons 5

Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem

5.0 Haidh (menstruation)

Haidh refers to the regular menstrual flow of blood, not to any other bleeding such as
after childbirth.
The colour of menstrual blood is somewhere between the colours red, yellow and
brown. A woman is considered in a state of menstruation until she sees a pure white
liquid being discharged.
Note: Woman normally have some sort of liquid discharge all the time – when this discharge becomes pure white
after her Haidh, she can be considered to be in a period of purity (tuhoor).
When the haidh starts, the women must immediately end her fast, if she is fasting (i.e.
by drinking water). If she is praying, she must end her prayer by making the taslim.
When a woman is in haidh, she is prohibited from fasting, praying, making tawaf
around Al-Ka’bah, entering a Mosque, touching the Qur’an or reciting the Qur’an
from memory. The hadith is clear that the one in hadith or the one junub (sexual
impurity) is not allowed to recite anything from the Qur’an. However, dhikr is
permissible. Although some scholars stipulate that tayammum needs to be made for
dhikr. The Malikis allow a woman to recite a portion of the Qur’an based on the
narration from Aisha (ra) who said she would recite her ‘wird’ in all her occasions.
When a woman finishes her period of menstruation, she must make Ghusl, and
resume praying.

5.1 The Duration of menstruation

 The minimum period of menstruation is three days—any bleeding less than 3-days
is not haidh (but rather istihadah—blood of the vein);
 The maximum period of menstruation is ten days—any bleeding more than 10-
days is not haidh (but rather istihadah—blood of the vein);
 The minimum period of purity (tuhur) between two menstruations cannot be less
than fifteen days;
 There is no maximum period of purity between two menstruations (as
menstruations can be irregular).

If a woman starts bleeding and the bleeding stops before three days are over, then this
is not considered haidh—see the first bullet point above. Instead it’s considered
bleeding of the vein. She would need to rectify any missed prayers over the period of
bleeding. If the period in question was in Ramadhan, she would need to rectify the
fasting but not the prayers. This is according to the hadith: Rectify the fasts and do
not rectify the prayers.

5.2 Istihadah—Blood of the vein

Istihadah refers to a prolonged flow of blood from a woman for either less than 3-days
or for longer than 10-days. Istihadah takes the same ruling as someone who has a
permanent nosebleed, for someone who drops urine all the time, someone who cannot
stop passing wind—it does not prevent the woman from performing the normal acts
of worship.
A woman in a state of istihadah can do all her ritual actions as normal, but she needs
to make wudu’ for each salah she prays. Her wudu at Dhuhr prayer would become
invalid at Asr prayer, hence would need to remake it.
5.2.1 Istihadah is an illness
The Prophet (saws) has said that Istihadah is an illness and the woman should seek
treatment for it.

5.2.2 What causes Istihadah

1. After giving birth to a baby;
2. High stress levels in life can trigger blood of the vein;
3. Illness
4. Using a coil in the womb

For cause #3 above – the treatment from the sunnah is to boil some Miswak in water,
drink the boiled water (warm) for seven days—the period will settle and resume a
more normal pattern.

5.3 Nifas—post natal bleeding

Nifas means the normal flow of blood from the womb after giving birth. Ghusl is
obligatory on a woman after nifas. There is no minimum period for nifas, however
there is a maximum period of 40-days—anything beyond forty-days is considered
blood of the vein (istihadah).

5.4 The Times of the Prayers

The five daily prayers must be performed at their specific appointed times.

5.4.1 The time of the Fajr prayer

The starting time for the Fajr salah is when the true dawn breaks i.e. when whiteness
marks the horizon and lasts until sunrise. It is preferable to pray fajr salah just before
sunrise as the reward will be greater according to the hadith in Tirmidhi (book of
salah).

5.4.2 The time of the Dhuhr prayer

The starting time for the dhuhr prayer is after the sun has gone past its zenith (zawal).
It’s end time is when the shadow becomes twice its length. Dhuhr should be prayed
early in its time. However if it is hot, it is preferable to delay the prayer until its
cooler because the severity of the heat is from the raging of the hellfire (hadith in
Bukhari, chapter of times of salah).

5.4.3 The time of the Asr prayer

The time of Asr begins when the time of Dhuhr has elapsed i.e. when the shadow is
equal to twice its length, and it lasts until the sun sets. The preferred time to pray Asr
ends when the sun becomes yellowish on the horizon. The salah of the munafiq
(hypocrite) is when he waits until the sun is between the two horns of satan i.e. nearly
about to set, then he gets up and prays four quick units, and he doesn’t remember
Allah in those four units very much.

5.4.4 The time for the Maghrib prayer

The time for the maghrib prayer begins after the sun has set, and lasts as long as the
shafaq (twilight) has not disappeared. The shafaq is the whiteness that follows the
redness on the horizon. It is preferable to pray maghrib early in its time duration.

5.4.5. The time for the Isha prayer

The time for the isha prayer begins when the shafaq has disappeared and it lasts until
the time for the fajr prayer. The preferred time of isha is upto to a third of the night

5.4.6 The prohibited times for prayer

It is not allowed to do prayers while the sun is rising, nor at midday, not at sunset.
The funeral prayers and the sajdah for tilawah should also not be made at these times
if at all possible.

5.5. Doing Qada for missed prayers

It is obligatory to make up any missed prayers. Missing salah is a major sin and one
needs to repent as soon as possible.

21.04.11