Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > The mustahada: the woman with continuous bleeding
The woman whose bleeding does not stop outside menstruation: her purity status, how she prays, fasts and handles the Quran, from the hadith of Fatima bint Abi Hubaysh.
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Updated on 06 October 2026 at 10:50 PM
The mustahada is the woman affected by bleeding outside her periods: the blood does not stop according to the usual cycle. This bleeding does not exclude her from the prayer: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) organized her religious life like that of any pure woman, with precaution rules.
The hadiths fixing "at minimum 3 days, at maximum 10" for the periods are judged weak by the masters of hadith; an-Nawawi states that they are all weak by the agreement of the specialists. The schools therefore rest on other bases: the duration known to each woman, then the assessment of each school's scholars for extreme cases.
Hamna complained to the Prophet of abundant blood; he answered her to protect herself with a piece of cloth, for it stops the blood (reported by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi). Umm Salama received the similar instruction to bind herself with a suitable garment. If the blood exceeds the protection because of the weakness of the binding, she tightens; if the blood still comes out, her prayer remains valid: 'Aisha reports that a woman was in spiritual retreat with the Prophet and saw the blood and the yellow under her while she prayed (al-Bukhari 304).
The mustahada renews her ablution at each prayer time, protects the area, and prays: continuous bleeding is not treated like the periods. She prays even if the blood stains her garment, for the cause exceeds her ability.
Medical follow-up of the bleeding remains useful, and the religious organization stays simple: one ablution per prayer time, adequate protection, and the prayer without fear. Allah does not demand the impossible from women tried by this bleeding.
Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudama · Hanbali school
Menstruation (hayd) is blood that the womb releases when a woman reaches maturity, which then becomes customary at known intervals, as wisdom for the rearing of the child. When she becomes pregnant, that blood turns, by Allah's permission, to nourishing it, and this is why the pregnant woman does not menstruate. When she gives birth, Allah, by His wisdom, turns that blood into milk by which the infant is nourished; this is why the nursing woman rarely menstruates. When a woman is free of pregnancy and nursing, that blood remains with no outlet: it settles, then comes out, in most cases, each month for six or seven days; it may be more or less, and a woman's cycle may be longer or shorter, according to what Allah has composed in the temperaments. It was called hayd from their saying: "the flood flowed (hada al-sayl)". Umara ibn Aqil said (in verse): "The torrents swept past their pebbles and their courses flowed over them, the floods of surging streams".