Alhamdulillahi rabbi l-'alamin alladhi anzala al-furqana 'ala 'abdihi fihi:
wa-yas'alUnaka 'ani l-maHIDi qul huwa adhan
wa-s-salat wa-s-salam 'ala n-nabiyyi l-qa'ili:
hAdhA shay'un katabahu LlAhu 'alA banAti Adama
sayyidi l-anbiya'i wa l-mursalin sahibi l-qur'ani

!!!Tanbih!!!

fayajibu 'alA l-mar'ati ta'allamu mA taHtAju ilayhi min aHkAmi l-HayDi wa l-istiHADati wa n-nifAsi fa-in kAna zawjuhA 'Aliman lazimahu ta'lImuhA wa-illA fa-lahA l-khurUju li-su'Ali l-'ulamA'i bal yajibu wa-yaHrumu 'alayhi man'uhA illA an yas'ala huwa wa-yukhbirahA fa-tastaghniya bi-dhAlika!!!

Fa-in qila:

wa-naqulu:

This is a straightforward query: the student is plainly wrong and there is no khilaf amongst our jurists on this mas'ala (as long as your statement "and so on" means that in the extreme case, the woman continues to have 5 more days of weak blood, which makes the total number of days for her second bleeding not exceeding 15 days and nights). The key distinction for students to make here is that the woman is not considered a Mustahada (in the technical sense of the word but of course from Bab Hayd's point of view she is indeed experiencing irregular bleeding (dam fasad) and that during the affected days she prays exactly like a Mustahada would--see below) and the ruling remains under Bab Hayd and that the second bleeding is indeed a combination of dam fasad and dam hayd. (I suspect that the student is confused between the two babs of Istihada and Hayd here or that he or she has wrongly transmitted the ruling from his or her teacher!) So my friend, what the Shafi'is of Sham do is also what the Shafi'is all over the world from South East Asia to East Africa do.

What is actually happening in this case is that there are two Hayd cycles taking place continuously, but is only interrupted, that is, by a break that did not amount to the minimum 15 days and nights. It may be rare but indeed possible. Amina's first hayd starts with the onset of her bleeding, that is, from day 1 to 15 (and unlike in Bab Istihada, whether her blood is strong or weak during this period are irrelevant, since all of them are nevertheless considered the same dam hayd and she will have to observe tarabbus throughout); from day 16-25, she is pure and after making Ghusl she begins to perform her prayers as usual. Suddenly from the 26th day onwards she begins to bleed for a second time and this time, continuing into the next month, and again, for a total period of 15 days but not more than 15 days and nights. However, for this second bleeding, she will be considered pure only from day 26 to 30--and this is the period of her dam fasad--while the remainder of her second bleeding is her dam hayd, by which her second Hayd begins, and for which tarabbus is observed again in the next month. During these 5 days (from the 26th to the 30th), she has to pray, even while bleeding, as a Mustahada would just like in a prayer performed by a Da'im Hadath.

From your example, we could therefore chart Amina's progress as:

15 days of tarabbus (for the first hayd); then Ghusl of Janaba; then 10 days of purity; then 5 days of praying Ada' (as opposed to praying Qada' later), albeit praying as a Mustahada while bleeding dam fasad; then with the bleeding continuing into the next month (but now we are in the next dawr): 10 days of tarabbus; then Ghusl of Janaba.

So students of fiqh should be able to chart the one month breakdown for Amina as:

Tarabbus = 15 days
Ada' = 5 days
Purity = 10 days
Hayd (no. 1) = 15 days (15 continuous days + 0 day)
Hayd (no. 2) = 10 days (and hayd no. 2 is not part of this month)
Istihada = 5 days
Ghusl = 1
Qada' Salat = 0
Qada' Fast = 15 days

The legal reasoning (for the benefit of fiqh students) is as follows: the 5 days of Amina's dam fasad occurred during the period when there should have been purity (so in effect, Amina was not fulfilling one of the three conditions of Hayd (assuming that she is already older than 9 years of age), namely, the condition that there must be at least 15 days and nights of purity between the two Hayds). When that happens (and as long as the remaining two conditions of Hayd are fulfilled), the number of days that falls short of the minimum 15 days and nights of purity have to be made up by completing the remaining days as part of the period of purity even when there is bleeding [Ba'alawi, Bughyat al-Mustarshidin, 31]. Amina is not considered a "Mustahada" in the usual sense as in Bab Istihada (meaning that she is not classified, or rather, she does not fulfill the criteria and conditions to be classed either as a Mustahada Mubtadi'a Mumayyiza or a Mustahada Mu'tada Mumayyiza or even with the rest of the Mustahada classes) because in both cases of bleeding, the other conditions of Hayd are actually fulfilled: that the bleeding did not exceed 15 days and night and that in both cases it lasted for more than a day and night. It is only when the total number of days of the second hayd remaining (i.e., after taking away the number of days required to complete the purity period) ends up being more than 15 days and night, that the woman will be considered a "real" or a proper Mustahada and that the ruling for this new case would then be considered under Bab Istihada. And when that happens, a whole new set of considerations will come into play including whether the woman is a first timer and whether she has forgotten her cycle and only then will the strength of the blood be considered, if applicable, and so on.

The case of Amina, therefore, is still under the consideration of Bab Hayd. What the jurist must do here is to distinguish between which days out of her two periods of bleeding are from dam hayd and which are from dam fasad. For very bright students of fiqh will be able to identify and discern the following principles and usul from the many details and furu' arising out of this issue and situate accordingly where Amina is sitting (at Tafsil B(a) of Furu' A) in the follwoing tree:

The Mas'ala: the asl of the mas'ala is about cases when the minimum 15 days of purity between two Hayds are not met (while at the same time, the two other conditions of Hayd are met: that the bleeding not exceed 15 days and nights, and that it lasted more than a day and night) and is divided further into:

Furu' A: if the total period of the first bleeding along with its period of purity (if any) reaches 15 days or more, then there are further details:

Tafsil A: if the second bleeding plus the preceding period of purity reaches 15 days or less, then the first bleeding is Hayd while the second bleeding is Istihada (dam fasad).

Tafsil B: if the second bleeding plus the preceding period of purity reaches 15 days or more, then the first bleeding is Hayd, while the second bleeding is Istihada (dam fasad) only insofar as it is used to complete the 15 days of purity, while the remaining days are further divided into:

(a) if the bleeding lasted more than a day and night and not exceeding 15 days and night, then it is the second Hayd.
(b) if the bleeding is less than a day and night, then it is only Istihada (dam fasad).

If Tafsil B(a) exceeds 15 days and night, then she will be one of the Mustahada and there are further details for which one has to look for them under Bab Istihada.

Furu' B: if the total period of the first bleeding along with its period of purity does not reach 15 days, then she will be one of the Mustahada and there are further details for which one has to look for them under Bab Istihada.

+Za'ida+ The following examples will show the student that the rule cannot be otherwise for Tafsil B:

Example 1:

Red blood: 5 days
Black blood: 5 days
Blood stops: 10 days
Red blood again: 10 days
= 10 days tarabbus; then Ghusl Janaba; then 10 days of purity; then a further 5 days praying Ada'; then 5 days tarabbus; then Ghusl Janaba.

Tarabbus = 15 days Purity = 10 days
Hayd = 15 days (10 + 5)
Istihada = 5 days
Ghusl = 2
Qada' Salat = 0
Qada' Fast = 14/15 days (depending on the new moon of Ramadan)

Example 2 (of Furu' B):

Black blood: 3 days
Creamy blood: 7 days
Blood stops: 10 days
Creamy blood again: 5 days 20 hours

= 10 days tarabbus; then Ghusl; then 10 days purity; then a further 5 days Ada'; then tarabbus of 20 hours.

Tarabbus = 10 days 20 hours
Ada' = 5 days
Purity = 10 days
Hayd = 10 days (10 + 0)
Istihada = 5 days 20 hours
Ghusl = 1
Qada' Salat = Anything missed during the 20 hour tarabbus
Qada' Fast = 11 days

Example 3:

Bleeding: 3 days
Bleeding stops: 12 days
Bleeding again: 6 days

= 3 days tarabbus; then Ghusl; then 12 days purity; then a further 3 days Ada'; then 3 days tarabbus; then Ghusl.

Tarabbus = 6 days
Ada' = 3 days
Purity = 12 days
Hayd = 6 days (3 + 3)
Istihada = 3 days
Ghusl = 2
Qada' Salat = 0
Qada' Fast = 6 days

Example 4:

Bleeding: 5 days
Bleeding stops: 10 days
Bleeding again: 10 days

= 5 days tarabbus; then Ghusl; then 10 days purity; then plus 5 days Ada'; then 5 days tarabbus; then Ghusl.

Tarabbus = 10 days
Ada' = 5 days
Purity = 10 days
Hayd = 10 days (5 + 5)
Istihada = 5 days
Ghusl = 2
Qada' Salat = 0
Qada' Fast = 10 days

Example 5:

Bleeding: 3 days
Bleeding stops: 6 days
Bleeding again: 2 days
Bleeding stops again: 4 days
Bleeding yet again: 15 days

= 3 days tarabbus; then Ghusl; then 6 days of purity; then 2 days tarabbus; then Ghusl; then 4 days of purity; then plus 11 days Ada'; then 4 days Tarabbus; then Ghusl.

Tarabbus = 9 days
Ada' = 11 days
Purity = 10 days (6 during the days of Hayd + 4 outside the days of Hayd)
Hayd = 15 days (11 + 4)
Istihada = 11 days
Ghusl = 3
Qada' Salat = 0
Qada' Fast = 14/15 days

Example 6:

Bleeding: 4 days
Bleeding stops: 11 days
Bleeding again: 15 days

= 4 days tarabbus; then Ghusl; then 11 days purity; then plus 4 days Ada'; then 11 days tarabbus; then Ghusl.

Tarabbus = 15 days
Ada' = 4 days
Purity = 11 days
Hayd = 15 days (4 + 11)
Istihada = 4 days
Ghusl = 2
Qada' Salat = 0
Qada' Fast = 14/15 days

In all of the above cases, the first part of the second bleeding is used to complete the tahara periods. If after studying all these examples with his or her teacher (and if he or she had to chart out the dates for each example and if after having counted each day visually from those charts to demarcate the different stages), the student fails to see the point, then forget even what is in the Bughyat al-Mustarshidin and don't bother with Bab Istihada yet, for he or she better re-learn Bab Hayd with another teacher or memorize Imam al-'Imriti's Taysir al-Tahrir. That is why all of the fuqaha' know well that the best medicine to give to those who will only move to do an 'amal once they see the Hadiths and "proofs" for a particular act, is to give them a taste of what is in Babs Hayd and Istihada.

Wallahu a'lam bis-sawab!

May this be of benefit.

O Allah, give us the strength to complete all that we have to do and all that we set out to do and all that we wish to do, for sometimes, they all overwhelm us!

Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti ©

7 Dhu l-Hijja 1424
29 I 2004
Oxford



- - - For more of S. M Afifi al-Akiti's texts, go to: [main]