Bleeding Discharges After 40 Days from Miscarriage

9-5-2019 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu
I had a miscarriage(3months feotus) on 8 December and bled for 17 days. Then I saw white discharge so I took ghusl and started praying. After6 days I started bleeding again. Considering this to be my monthly period as it coincided on the same date, I stopped praying again. I know that the maximum limit for a period is 15 days. Today is the 16th day and I still have brown spots( not fresh blood) I also saw some transparent discharge yesterday.
I called my doctor and she says its the miscarriage blood as I didnt have a dnc procedure it takes around 40 days to be clean. If I consider this to be nifas...its the 53rd day.
Should I pray with a fresh wudu for every salah or should I not?
Also...I am a hafizah and not reciting quran for these many days is effecting my hifz.
Please answer soon. Jazakumullahu ahsanal jaza wa jannatul firdouse

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

We have already clarified in many previous Fataawa that if the miscarried fetus has taken human form – i.e. has hands, legs, and other organs – then the blood that a woman discharges because of this is postpartum bleeding. The least period for a fetus to take human form is 80 days.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

“Postpartum bleeding is not confirmed unless the woman gives birth to what has taken human form; so if she had a miscarriage of a small fetus who has not yet taken human form, then her bleeding is not postpartum bleeding; rather, it is normal blood (that is not connected to postpartum), so her ruling is that of a woman who has bleeding outside her monthly menses, and the minimum period of time when the fetus takes human form is eighty days from the beginning of pregnancy, and mostly ninety days.” [End of quote]

He also said:

“If there is a miscarriage of a fetus and a woman has bleeding after it, then if the fetus shows human form, his hands, legs and the rest of his organs can be seen, then the bleeding is post-partum bleeding, so the woman neither prays nor fasts until she becomes pure from it...” [End of quote]

The period mentioned in the question, which is ninety days, means that the fetus shows human form in general, so the blood discharge is post-partum bleeding, and the view that we adopt here in Islamweb is that the maximum of post-partum bleeding is 40 days.

Any bleeding after forty days is not considered post-partum bleeding, so it does not prevent (a woman) from fasting and prayers unless this coincides with her monthly menses.

In our view as well, a woman in post-partum bleeding, if her bleeding interrupts and then it comes again within the period of forty days, then this bleeding is post-partum bleeding, and that prevents a woman from prayer and fasting.

In your case, dear sister, you had bleeding discharges within the period of forty days, as you mentioned in the question. So this bleeding that you had again is post-partum bleeding and you have to consider it as such until forty days. Whatever bleeding that you had after the forty days, then consider it as bleeding outside your monthly menses, and it does not prevent from prayer, fasting, and the recitation of the Quran.

You should perform ablution for every prayer after its time has started.

The bleeding is not considered as menses unless it coincides with your monthly menses; in which case, you should refrain from the prayer and fasting.

As regards reciting the Quran when you have menses, then the view that we adopt is that it is permissible if one recites from his memory or from the mobile phone without touching the Mus'haf.

Maalik and Ahmed in one narration chosen by Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah and by the prominent scholar Ibn Baaz is that it is permissible for the menstruating woman to recite the Quran.

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah said:

“There are no clear explicit texts that prohibit menstruating women from reciting the Quran. It is known that women used to have menses at the time of the Prophet but he did not forbid them from reciting the Quran. He did not prohibit them from mentioning Allah and supplicating Him as well.” [End of quote]

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

“This is evidence that it is permissible for a woman to recite the Quran while she is in menses because she cannot compensate this during the time of purity because menstruation may extend most of her time. So if she was prevented from the recitation, she would have missed her benefit and she may have forgotten what she had memorized during her time of purity. This is the view of Malik, and one of the two narrations from Ahmed, and one of the two narrations from ash-Shaafi’i.” [End of quote]

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 181903 and 81639.

Allah knows best.