400. In the case of istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah, a woman must perform wuÃÙ prior to every prayer, and based on obligatory precaution she should also change the cotton. She must also wash the surface of the vaginal area if the blood has spread to it.
401. In the case of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah, a woman must perform ghusl for every fajr prayer, and also perform the duties of one who is in istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah, as explained in the previous article, until the fajr prayer of the next day. If she enters this state prior to any other prayer, she should perform ghusl for that prayer and also perform the duties of one who is in istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah until the fajr prayer of the next day.
If she deliberately or out of forgetfulness does not perform ghusl prior to the prayer for which the ghusl is obligatory, she should perform ghusl prior to the subsequent prayer, regardless of whether she is still bleeding or has ceased to do so.
402. In the case of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah, in addition to the duties of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah mentioned in the previous article, based on obligatory precaution she should also change the pad or wash it (in the case of reusable pads). She must also perform one ghusl for zuhr and ÞaÒr prayers and one for maghrib and ‘ishÁ’ prayers, and should not delay praying ÞaÒr after zuhr and ‘ishÁ’ after maghrib. If she delays praying the second prayer, be it the ÞaÒr or the ‘ishÁ’ prayer, she should perform ghusl again. It should also be noted that the ghusl of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah does suffice in lieu of wuÃÙ.
403. If the blood of istiÎÁÃah is discharged prior to the time of prayer, and a woman has not performed the ghusl or wuÃÙ for it, she should do so before offering her prayer, even if she is not a mustaÎÁÃah at that moment.
404. A woman in the state of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah, who has to perform ghusl and wuÃÙ, can perform either of them first, and it will be valid. It is better however, that she should perform wuÃÙ first.
However, if one who is in the state of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah wishes to perform wuÃÙ, she must do so prior to performing ghusl.
405. If the istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah of a woman is transformed to mutawassiÔah after fajr prayer, she should perform ghusl for zuhr and ÞaÒr prayers. If it occurs after zuhr and ÞaÒr prayers, she should perform ghusl for maghrib and ‘ishÁ’ prayers.
406. If the istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah or mutawassiÔah of a woman is transformed to kathÐrah after fajr prayer, she should perform one ghusl for zuhr and ÞaÒr prayers, and another for maghrib and ‘ishÁ’. If this occurs after zuhr and ÞaÒr prayers, she should perform a ghusl for maghrib and ‘ishÁ’ prayers.
407. If a woman who is in the state of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah, remains in that state until the time for prayers sets in, but performs ghusl for prayers before the time sets in, her ghusl will be void. It is however permissible for her to perform a ghusl prior to the time of fajr prayer with the intention of rajÁ‘, and then perform the night prayer. Precaution dictates that she should perform another ghusl for the morning prayer after the time for it sets in.
408. A woman who is in the state of istiÎÁÃah must perform all the duties mentioned for a woman in her state for every prayer—other than the daily prayers, whose ruling was mentioned earlier—she wishes to perform, be it an obligatory prayer or a recommended one. The same will apply if she wishes to offer her daily prayers again out of precaution, or wishes to offer a prayer in congregation that she has already offered individually. Precaution dictates that a woman in the state of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah should also perform wuÃÙ. If she offers these prayers during the time of a daily prayer for which she has already performed ghusl, obligatory precaution dictates that she should perform ghusl again.
As for offering the iÎtiyÁÔ prayers, the forgotten sajdah, the forgotten tashahhud, and the two sajdah al-sahw which have to be performed for a forgotten tashahhud, she does not have to perform all the duties of a mustaÎÁÃah for them, if she performs them immediately after completing her prayer. It is also not obligatory to perform the duties of istiÎÁÃah for the sajdah al-sahw of prayers.
409. After the blood of a mustaÎÁÃah ceases to flow, she should perform the duties of istiÎÁÃah for her first prayer only, and it is not necessary for subsequent prayers.
410. If a woman who does not know which category of istiÎÁÃah applies to her, wishes to offer prayer, should either act on the basis of precaution or inspect herself. For example, she should insert a cotton ball in the vaginal area, wait for a few moments and then remove it. Once she realizes which category of istiÎÁÃah applies to her, she should act according to the rulings prescribed for it. If she knows that her state will not change prior to the time that she would like to pray, she can even inspect herself before the time of prayer sets in.
411. If a woman engages herself in prayer without inspecting herself, with the intention of drawing closer to Allah, and acts according to her actual responsibilities—for example, she was actually in the state of istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah and coincidentally acted according to its responsibilities—her prayer will be valid. If however, she lacks the intention of drawing closer to Allah, or does not act according to her actual responsibilities—for example, she was in the state of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah, but acted according to the responsibilities of istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah—her prayer will be void.
412. If a woman is unable to inspect herself, and does not know which category of istiÎÁÃah applies to her, the obligatory precaution is that she should perform the greater set of duties in order to be certain that she has acted according to her responsibility. For example, if she doesn’t know whether she is in istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah or mutawassiÔah, she should act according to the rulings of mutawassiÔah. If she is uncertain between mutawassiÔah and kathÐrah, she should act according to the rulings of kathÐrah, and should also perform wuÃÙ for every prayer. If however, she knows her previous state, she should act according to it.
413. If the blood of istiÎÁÃah remains internally at the onset of its appearance, and does not come out, it will not invalidate one’s wuÃÙ or ghusl. If it comes out, albeit an insignificant amount, it will invalidate wuÃÙ and ghusl.
414. If a mustaÎÁÃah inspects herself after praying, and does not observe any blood, she can offer prayers with the same wuÃÙ, even though she may know that she will discharge more blood.
415. If a mustaÎÁÃah knows that she stopped bleeding from the time she was engaged in performing wuÃÙ or ghusl, she can delay offering her prayer for as long as she knows that she has retained this state.
416. If a mustaÎÁÃah knows that she will be purified from her state before the time for prayer ends, or that she will cease bleeding for a period that is sufficient for offering prayers, she should pray when she ceases to bleed.
417. After performing ghusl and wuÃÙ, if the blood ceases to flow externally, and the mustaÎÁÃah knows that she will be completely purified before the time for prayer elapses, allowing her to perform ghusl, wuÃÙ and offer her prayer, she should delay offering her prayer. Once the bleeding stops, she should perform ghusl and wuÃÙ again, and offer her prayer. If the time for prayer becomes very short, it is not necessary to perform ghusl and wuÃÙ again; rather, based on obligatory precaution she should perform tayammum for ghusl and (one) for wuÃÙ, and then offer her prayers.
418. A woman who is in the state of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah should perform ghusl once she is completely purified from bleeding. However, if she knows that from the time she was engaged in performing ghusl for her previous prayer, there has been no extra discharge, and that she is completely purified, she does not have to perform ghusl again.
419. A woman in the state of istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah, mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah should not delay offering her prayers after she has acted according to the rules of her state, except in the case which was mentioned in article 415. There is no harm in proclaiming the adhÁn or the iqÁmah before praying, or performing the recommended acts of prayer, such as reciting qunÙt or other similar acts. The recommended precaution is that she should abstain from performing the recommended acts if she remains pure for the period it takes to perform the obligatory components of prayer.
420. If a mustaÎÁÃah delays offering her prayers after acting according to the rulings of her state, be it wuÃÙ or ghusl, she should perform the wuÃÙ or ghusl once again, according to the requirements of her state, and immediately offer her prayers, unless she knows that she meets the conditions described in article 415.
421. If the blood of istiÎÁÃah flows continuously and does not cease flowing, after performing ghusl a woman should prevent the blood from flowing out, if doing so is not harmful for her. If she ignores to do so, and blood flows out, she should perform ghusl again, and if she had prayed earlier, she should repeat her prayer.
422. If the blood does not cease to flow while a mustaÎÁÃah is performing ghusl, her ghusl will be valid. However, if her state changes from mutawassiÔah to kathÐrah while she is performing ghusl, she should start her ghusl all over again.
423. The recommended precaution is that a mustaÎÁÃah should prevent blood from flowing out throughout the day on which she is fasting, to the extent that she can.
424. The fast of a woman who is in the state of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah is valid if she performs the ghusls which are obligatory for all the daytime prayers. Similarly, based on obligatory precaution she should also have performed the ghusl for the maghrib and ‘ishÁ’‘ prayers of the night before the day she wishes to fast.
425. If a woman becomes a mustaÎÁÃah after ÞaÒr prayers and does not perform her ghusl until sunset, her fast will be in order.
426. If a woman’s state changes from istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah to mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah prior to prayers, she should accordingly perform the acts of a mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah as elaborated earlier. If her state changes from mutawassiÔah to kathÐrah, she should perform the acts of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah. In fact, even if she had already performed the ghusl of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah, it will be of no benefit and she will have to perform ghusl again for istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah.
427. If a woman’s state changes from istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah to kathÐrah in the midst of her prayer, she should discontinue her prayer and perform the ghusl and other duties of istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah. She should then offer the same prayer again, and based on recommended precaution she should also perform wuÃÙ prior to performing ghusl. If she does not have sufficient time to perform ghusl, having performed wuÃÙ, she should perform a tayammum in lieu of ghusl. If she is not afforded the time to perform tayammum either, based on obligatory precaution she should complete her prayer in that state, and offer the qaÃÁ after the time has elapsed.
Similarly, if her state changes from istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah to mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah, she should discontinue her prayer and perform the duties of istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah or kathÐrah.
428. If the blood stops flowing in the midst of prayer, and the mustaÎÁÃah does not know whether it has also stopped flowing internally or not, and realizes after completing her prayers that it had stopped flowing, she will have to perform her duties in terms of performing wuÃÙ or ghusl and will have to offer her prayer again.
429. If a woman’s state changes from istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah to mutawassiÔah, she should perform the acts of a kathÐrah for her first prayer and the acts of a mutawassiÔah for subsequent prayers. For example, if prior to Ûuhr prayer, her state changes from istiÎÁÃah kathÐrah to mutawassiÔah, she should perform ghusl for Ûuhr prayer and wuÃÙ for ÞaÒr, maghrib and ‘ishÁ’‘ prayers.
However, if she does not perform ghusl for zuhr prayer, and only has enough time to offer ÞaÒr prayer, she should perform ghusl for ÞaÒr prayer. If she does not do so, she should perform ghusl for maghrib prayer. If she fails to do that, and only has enough time to offer ‘ishÁ’‘ prayer, she should do so for her ‘ishÁ’‘ prayer.
