skills/sistani-guidance/references/books/women/pages-025-036.md

# Women's Religious Rules in Simple Language

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Previous block: [pages 13 to 24](pages-013-024.md).

Next block: [pages 37 to 46](pages-037-046.md).

## PDF PAGE 25

```text
25 | Women’s Religious Rules in Simple Language
Discussion on the Rules of Istiḥāḍa
Mother: One type of bleeding that a woman may experience is
Istiḥāḍa, and a woman who sees this blood is called Mustaḥāḍa. As I
explained earlier, this blood is often yellow or light red, cold, and exits
without pressure or burning.
Minimum and Maximum Duration of Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: What is the minimum and maximum duration of Istiḥāḍa?
Mother: Istiḥāḍa has no minimum or maximum duration.
Types of Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: Is the blood of Istiḥāḍa always the same?
Mother: No, there are three types of Istiḥāḍa: Light (Qalīla), Medium
(Mutawassiṭa), and Excessive (Kathīra).
1. Light Istiḥāḍa (Qalila): This is when, upon checking, the
blood stains the surface of the cotton only.
2. Medium Istiḥāḍa (Mutawassiṭa): This is when the blood
penetrates into the cotton, even if only in one corner, but does
not pass through to the other side and does not reach the
sanitary pad.
3. Excessive Istiḥāḍa (Kathīra): This is when the blood soaks
the cotton or penetrates through the cotton and reaches the
sanitary pad.
Light Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: What should a woman with light Istiḥāḍa do?
Mother: She must perform ablution (wuḍū) before each prayer, even if
she plans to perform two prayers consecutively.
```

## PDF PAGE 26

```text
Faṭimah: Does a woman with light Istiḥāḍa need to perform ablution
for every Mustaḥab (recommended) prayer as well?
Mother: Yes.
Modium Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: What should a woman with medium Istiḥāḍa do?
Mother: Similar to light Istiḥāḍa, she must perform ablution before
each prayer, and as a measure of obligatory precaution,1 she should also
perform ghusl2 once each day before the Fajr (dawn) prayer.
Faṭimah: Should ghusl for medium Istiḥāḍa be done before or after
wuḍū?
Mother: She should perform ghusl first, then perform wuḍū. (Note:
The areas for wiping should be dry before wuḍū.)
Faṭimah: What if a woman forgets to perform ghusl before the Fajr
prayer during medium Istiḥāḍa?
Mother: As an obligatory precaution, her prayer is invalid, and she
must repeat it. She must also perform the ghusl before the Ẓuhr (noon)
prayer that day.
Faṭimah: If a woman sees medium Istiḥāḍa blood after the Fajr prayer,
when should she perform ghusl?
Mother: As a measure of obligatory precaution, she should perform
ghusl before the Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr (afternoon) prayers, and if the blood
starts after these prayers, she should perform ghusl before the Maghrib
1 Obligatory precaution means that the person can follow another jurist's
ruling, making sure he is the next most learned person in the field of Islamic
jurisprudence.
2 Ghusl is a term in Islamic jurisprudence that refers to the Islamic ritual bath
of the whole body from the head to the feet. It is mandatory before the
performance of various Islamic activities and prayers.
```

## PDF PAGE 27

```text
27 | Women’s Religious Rules in Simple Language
(sunset) and ʿIshā (night) prayers. If the Istiḥāḍa continues until the
next day, she should perform ghusl before the next day's Fajr prayer.
Shared Rules Between Light and Moderate Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: For praying during light or medium Istiḥāḍa, is it necessary
to change the cotton or wash the body?
Mother: Changing the cotton is not necessary, and if the blood has not
spread to the outer skin of the body, washing is not required either.
Faṭimah: Can a woman with light or medium Istiḥāḍa delay her prayer
after performing wuḍū?
Mother: No, she must perform her prayer immediately. However,
doing necessary actions like preparing the prayer mat and wearing the
prayer garment, as well as performing recommended acts like the call
to prayer (Adhān) and Iqāma, is acceptable.
Faṭimah: If a woman with light or medium Istiḥāḍa is sure that no
blood will exit her body while performing wuḍū and the two prayers,
does she still need to perform wuḍū for the second prayer?
Mother: If the blood has stopped both externally and internally, it is
not necessary to perform wuḍū for the second prayer. However,
external cleanliness alone is not sufficient.
Faṭimah: What if a woman with light or medium Istiḥāḍa, due to
ignorance of the ruling, performs both prayers with one wuḍū? What is
the ruling?
Mother: If the blood has reached the cotton in the meantime, she must
repeat the second prayer with a new wuḍū. If the time for the prayer
has passed, she must perform it as a missed prayer (qaḍā).
Excessive Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: What duties does a woman with excessive Istiḥāḍa have?
```

## PDF PAGE 28

```text
Mother: In excessive Istiḥāḍa, wuḍū is not required, but she must
perform three ghusls during the day and pray immediately after each
ghusl:
1. The first ghusl is for the Fajr prayer.
2. The second ghusl is for the Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr prayers if they are
performed consecutively.
3. The third ghusl is for the Maghrib and Isha prayers if they are
performed consecutively.
As an obligatory precautiona, she should also change or wash the cotton
and sanitary pad before each prayer.
Faṭimah: What if a woman with excessive Istiḥāḍa delays between the
two prayers? What is the ruling?
Mother: In that case, she must perform another ghusl before the second
prayer.
Faṭimah: What if a woman with excessive Istiḥāḍa is ill and unable to
perform ghusl? What is the ruling?
Mother: If performing ghusl is harmful or causes extreme hardship,
she may perform tayammum (dry ablution) instead, and this will suffice
in place of ghusl.
Change in the Type of Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: If the type of Istiḥāḍa changes during the day, what should a
woman do?
Mother: Her duties will change according to the type of blood. For
example, if a woman has medium Istiḥāḍa and after performing ghusl
and praying Fajr, she notices that her Istiḥāḍa has turned into light
Istiḥāḍa, then it is sufficient for her to perform wuḍū for each prayer,
and she does not need to perform ghusl the next day.
```

## PDF PAGE 29

```text
29 | Women’s Religious Rules in Simple Language
Stopping Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: What should a woman do if her Istiḥāḍa stops?
Mother: If her Istiḥāḍa was light or medium, she only needs to perform
wuḍū for the first prayer, and no further wuḍū is required for the second
prayer. If her Istiḥāḍa was excessive, she must perform ghusl before the
first prayer.
Fasting for a Woman with Istiḥāḍa
Faṭimah: Can a woman with Istiḥāḍa fast?
Mother: Yes, a woman with Istiḥāḍa is considered ritually pure (like a
woman who is not menstruating) and can fast, whether her Istiḥāḍa is
light, medium, or excessive.
```

## PDF PAGE 30

```text
Rules of Nifās (Postpartum Bleeding)
```

## PDF PAGE 31

```text
31 | Women’s Religious Rules in Simple Language
A Conversation about the Rules of Nifās
Mother: Another type of blood that a woman experiences is "Nifās"
(childbirth bleeding). A woman who sees Nifās blood is called
"nufasāʾ."
Faṭimah: When does this blood come out?
Mother: It occurs during childbirth or up to a maximum of ten days
afterward.
The Ruling on Blood after a Cesarean Section
Faṭimah: If a woman undergoes a cesarean section and the baby is
delivered through her abdomen or side, does she still experience Nifās?
Mother: Yes, the blood that comes out from the natural passage after a
cesarean section is considered Nifās.
The Minimum and Maximum Duration of Nifās
Faṭimah: What is the minimum and maximum duration for Nifās
blood?
Mother: There is no fixed minimum duration for Nifās; it could be as
short as a minute, but the maximum duration is ten days.
Faṭimah: What is the ruling if Nifās blood stops before ten days?
Mother: All of it is considered Nifās, and after the blood stops, she
must perform ghusl and resume her acts of worship.
Faṭimah: What if the Nifās blood continues beyond ten days?
Mother: If the woman has a fixed menstrual habit, in terms of duration
or in terms of time and duration, then the Nifās lasts as long as her habit,
and the rest is considered Istiḥāḍa (non-menstrual bleeding). If she is a
beginner (i.e. menstruating for the first time), or Muḍṭariba, or has only
```

## PDF PAGE 32

```text
a fixed-time habit, then Nifās lasts for up to ten days, and the rest is
considered Istiḥāḍa.
Nifās Blood Exceeds the Days of Menstrual Habit
Faṭimah: For example, if a woman has a six-day menstrual cycle and
the bleeding continues after the sixth day, what should she do if she
doesn’t know whether the bleeding will stop before or after ten days?
Mother: For the time being, she should refrain from worship and wait.
If the blood stops before the end of the tenth day, she should consider
the entire period as Nifās and perform ghusl for Nifās. If the bleeding
continues beyond ten days, she should perform ghusl for Nifās and later
make up for any prayers or fasts missed during the last four days.
Nifās Blood Temporarily Stops
Faṭimah: What if a woman experiences bleeding for a total of nine
days after childbirth, but there are intervals of purity within these nine
days? What should she do?
Mother: As an obligatory precaution, during the days of purity
between two periods of bleeding, she should both perform the
obligatory acts of worship and refrain from the actions prohibited for a
woman in Nifās. For example, if she only becomes pure on the fifth
day, she should pray and fast (if it is Ramaḍān) as an obligatory
precaution and at the same time avoid touching the verses of the Quran
and staying in mosques.
Prolonged Bleeding After Childbirth
Faṭimah: Many women believe that Nifās blood continues for forty
days after childbirth and that during this period, they should refrain
from worship. Is this true?
```

## PDF PAGE 33

```text
33 | Women’s Religious Rules in Simple Language
Mother: This belief is incorrect because the duration of Nifās depends
on the type of menstrual cycle the woman had before pregnancy. In any
case, Nifās does not last more than ten days.
Prohibited Actions for a Woman in Nifās
Faṭimah: What actions are prohibited for a woman in Nifās?
Mother: The rules for a woman in Nifās are the same as those for a
menstruating woman. Therefore, she should refrain from prayer and
fasting, and after becoming pure, she only needs to make up the fasts
of Ramaḍān. She cannot recite the verses of the Quran that require
prostration, touch the text of the Quran, or the name of Allah and His
special attributes, and she should not stay in mosques.
```

## PDF PAGE 34

```text
Rules of Ghusl
```

## PDF PAGE 35

```text
35 | Women’s Religious Rules in Simple Language
A Conversation about the Rules of Ghusl
Mother: Today I want to talk about "ghusl" (ritual purification). As I
explained earlier, every woman must perform ghusl after becoming
pure from menstruation, and she cannot perform her acts of worship
without it. Therefore, it is necessary for teenage girls, after reaching the
age of religious obligation, to learn the correct method of ghusl and its
rules.
Types of Ghusl
Faṭimah: How many ways and methods of performing ghusl are there?
Mother: Ghusl can be performed in two ways: Ghusl by way of
immersion (ghusl irtimāsī) and sequential ghusl (ghusl tartībī).
Immersion Ghusl
Faṭimah: How is ghusl by way of immersion performed?
Mother: The easiest way to perform ghusl by way of immersion is to
submerge the entire body in water all at once with the intention of ghusl,
making sure that the water reaches every part of the body.
Sequential Ghusl
Faṭimah: How is sequential ghusl performed?
Mother: For sequential ghusl, it is sufficient to wash the head and neck
first with the intention of ghusl, and then wash the rest of the body. It
is better to wash the right side first and then the left side.
```

## PDF PAGE 36

```text
Intention in Ghusl
Faṭimah: Is it necessary to verbally state the intention?
Mother: No, it is sufficient to perform the actions of ghusl for the sake
of Allah, and it is not necessary to verbally state the intention or to recite
any specific words during ghusl.
Faṭimah: If we enter the bathroom with the intention of performing
ghusl and complete the actions of ghusl, but afterward we doubt
whether we had the intention or not, what is the ruling?
Mother: The ghusl is valid, and such doubts should be ignored.
Performing Ghusl Under a Shower
Faṭimah: Is performing ghusl under a shower valid?
Mother: Performing ghusl with a shower is valid, but as a measure of
obligatory precaution, one should step out from under the shower for a
moment before washing the head and neck, as well as before washing
the rest of the body, to create a brief gap between washing the head and
neck and washing the rest of the body.
The Ruling on Bathing Instead of Ghusl
Faṭimah: If a woman was unaware that she needed to perform ghusl
after menstruation and instead took a regular bath after becoming pure,
does this count as ghusl?
Mother: If she bathed with the intention of obeying Allah's command,
but out of inculpable ignorance1 (innocence) did not intend to perform
ghusl or follow the correct sequence, her ghusl is valid, even if she did
not step out from under the shower after washing the head and neck.
1 A person who is innocent in his ignorance is someone who did not neglect
his duty to learn the religious ruling.
```