A period is from Allah

When a girl grows up, she starts to have a period: a few days of bleeding each month. In Arabic it is called hayd. For most girls it starts somewhere between about 9 and 15 years old. When it starts, she has reached adulthood in Islam, so she now must pray and fast like every adult Muslim.

Nabi ﷺ said about the period: this is something Allah has written for the daughters of Adam¹. It is not dirty, it is not a punishment, and it is nothing to feel ashamed of.

The women of Madinah asked Nabi ﷺ about their periods openly, and he answered them. So if you are not sure about something, ask: your mother, an older sister, a teacher, or a woman of knowledge at your masjid. It is part of your deen.

What counts as a period

Not all bleeding is a period. The four schools give limits for how short and how long a period can be:

• Most women bleed for about 6 or 7 days. Your usual pattern is called your habit. It helps to keep a note of it, or use a period app.
• Between two periods there must be a clean gap. For most schools it is at least 15 days. Hanbalis say 13 days.
• Bleeding that is shorter or longer than these limits is not a period. It is istihadah, explained below.
• A pregnant woman who sees blood: Hanafis and Hanbalis say it is not a period. Malikis and Shafi'is say it can be. Tell your doctor about any bleeding in pregnancy.

Colors

• Red or dark blood in your period days is your period.
• Brown or yellow during your period days: most scholars count it as part of the period.
• Brown or yellow after you have become clean does not count. Umm Atiyyah said: we did not count brown and yellow after we were clean⁵. So you keep praying.

How you know it has ended

Your period has ended when you see one of two signs:

• A white discharge, which some women see at the end of their period.
• Complete dryness. Put a piece of white tissue or cotton in place for a moment. If it comes out clean, with no red, brown or yellow, you are clean.

The women in Madinah used to send Aisha little pieces of cotton to check. She told them: do not rush until you see the white discharge.

• Check before each prayer time ends, especially before you sleep and before Fajr.
• Once you are clean, make ghusl and pray⁶. Do not wait for the usual number of days if you are already clean.
• If the bleeding comes back within your period limit, it usually counts as your period again. Stop praying until it ends. The schools differ in the details, so ask if this happens often.

What you do not do during a period

• Salah. You do not pray. Nabi ﷺ said: when your period comes, leave the prayer⁷. And you never make it up. Aisha said: we were told to make up the fasts, but not the prayers⁸. This is Allah's mercy: imagine making up a week of prayers every month.
• Fasting. You do not fast. You make up the days of Ramadan later⁹.
• Tawaf around the Kaaba. Wait until you are clean¹⁰. The rest of Hajj or Umrah you can do.
• Intercourse. Allah says: they ask you about periods. Say: it is a discomfort. So keep away from your wives during it, and do not go near them until they are clean¹¹.
• Touching the mushaf (a printed Quran). All four schools say do not touch it directly. Many scholars take this from the ayah: none touch it except the purified¹². You may hold it with a cloth or in its cover, or use a phone or a book of tafsir.
• Staying in the masjid. The four schools say a woman on her period does not stay in the prayer hall. Shafi'is and Hanbalis allow walking through if there is no risk of blood falling. Some scholars allow staying, as long as she is careful. Rooms outside the prayer hall, like a classroom or hall, are fine.

What you CAN do

Some cultures keep a woman away from people during her period. Islam does not. When the Companions asked about this, Nabi ﷺ said: do everything except intercourse¹³. So you can:

• Make dua and dhikr: SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar, salawat on Nabi ﷺ, morning and evening adhkar.
• Listen to Quran, and learn its meanings.
• Cook, eat with your family, and touch things. Nabi ﷺ asked Aisha to pass him a mat. She said she was on her period. He said: your period is not in your hand¹⁴.
• Be close to your family. Nabi ﷺ rested his head in Aisha's lap and recited Quran while she was on her period¹⁵. She combed his hair while she was on her period¹⁶.
• Go to the Eid gathering. Nabi ﷺ told women on their period to come out for Eid, to share in the good and the dua of the Muslims. They only stayed away from the prayer rows themselves¹⁷.
• Attend Islamic classes, give charity, help others, read Islamic books. All of these are worship.

Husband and wife

Husband and wife can sit together, eat together, hug, and sleep in the same bed. Only intercourse is forbidden¹⁸. Nabi ﷺ would stay close to his wives during their periods, with a wrap worn from the waist down¹⁹.

• Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i: the area between the navel and the knees stays covered.
• Hanbali: everything is allowed except intercourse itself.

Reciting Quran during a period

Scholars differ here, so be gentle with people who follow another view:

• Maliki: a woman on her period may recite from memory. Her period can last many days, and she might forget what she has learned.
• Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali: she does not recite Quran. But she may say ayat as dua or dhikr, like Bismillah, or the dua for a journey.

Things that are fine in every view:

• Listening to Quran.
• Looking at the words and reading them in your heart, without moving your lips.
• Touching a phone with a Quran app. A phone is not a mushaf. Whether you recite from it aloud follows the views above.

If you are a hafidha, or you are memorizing for an exam, the Maliki view is a real help. Follow your local masjid or a scholar you trust.

After the period: ghusl

When the bleeding stops, you make ghusl (a full bath with the intention of becoming pure), and then you pray²⁰.

• The steps are the same as any ghusl. See the ghusl chapter, or the short lessons in the Ghusl unit.
• Nabi ﷺ also taught a woman to use a piece of cloth with musk on the places where the blood was²¹. Today, washing well and a gentle scent do the same job.
• Do not delay the ghusl so long that a prayer time passes. If water would harm you, or there is none, see tayammum.

When the period starts or ends during a prayer time

• It started after the prayer time began and you had not prayed yet: Shafi'is and Hanbalis say make that prayer up later, because you had time to pray it. Hanafis and Malikis say you do not need to.
• It ended before a prayer time finished: make ghusl quickly and pray that prayer. Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis add: if it ended in Asr time, also pray Dhuhr, and if it ended in Isha time, also pray Maghrib.

More detail is in the prayer times chapter.

Bleeding after childbirth (nifas)

After a baby is born, a mother bleeds for some days or weeks. This is called nifas. It has the same rules as a period: no salah, no fasting, no intercourse, then ghusl when it ends.

In the time of Nabi ﷺ, women stayed in nifas for forty days²².

• There is no shortest time. If the bleeding stops after 10 days, or 20, you are clean. Make ghusl and pray. You do not have to wait for 40 days.
• Hanbalis say it is disliked for the husband to be intimate before the 40 days are over, even if she is clean. It is still allowed.
• Bleeding that goes on after the longest time is istihadah. Pray with it, as explained below.
• A birth by cesarean section is the same: the bleeding from the womb afterwards is nifas.

After a miscarriage

Losing a baby is painful. May Allah comfort every mother who goes through it. The ruling for the bleeding:

• If the shape of a baby had formed, like a head or hands, the bleeding is nifas. This is usually after about 80 days of pregnancy.
• If it was earlier, most Hanafis and Hanbalis say it is not nifas. The bleeding is a period if it fits the period limits, and istihadah if it does not. Malikis and Shafi'is count it as nifas even earlier, if it was clearly the start of a baby.
• Your doctor can usually tell you how far along the pregnancy was. Ask a scholar you trust for your case.

Istihadah: bleeding that is not a period

Some women bleed outside their period: for too long, too often, or a little at odd times. This is called istihadah. It is not a period. It is like any other bleeding from the body.

Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh bled all the time. She asked Nabi ﷺ: should I stop praying? He said: no. This is from a vein, not a period. When your real period comes, leave the prayer. When it ends, wash and pray²³.

How to tell your period from istihadah

• If you have a regular habit, count your usual days as your period. Nabi ﷺ told Fatimah: leave the prayer only for the days you usually have your period²⁴. The rest is istihadah.
• If you have no regular habit, look at the blood. Nabi ﷺ said period blood is dark and easy to recognize. Other blood is from a vein²⁵. Most schools use this. Hanafis do not use color, and go by days instead.
• If neither helps, the schools have different rules. Ask a woman of knowledge or a scholar you trust.

What to do during istihadah

• Pray and fast as normal. Husband and wife may be intimate, according to most scholars.
• Wash the blood, and use a pad.
• Make wudu for each prayer. Nabi ﷺ told Fatimah: make wudu for every prayer, until your next period comes²⁶.

The schools explain this wudu a little differently:

• Hanafi and Hanbali: make wudu after the prayer time starts. It lasts for the whole time. You can pray the fard and any extra prayers with it.
• Shafi'i: make a new wudu for each fard prayer, after its time starts. Extra prayers can be prayed with it.
• Maliki: a new wudu for each prayer is recommended, not required.

Pills, irregular cycles and spotting

• Delaying a period with pills, for example for Hajj, Umrah or Ramadan: many scholars allow it, as long as a doctor says it is safe for you. Letting your body follow its natural way is also fine, and you lose nothing by it.
• Bleeding while on the pill, an implant or a coil: look at it with the normal rules. If it fits a period (enough days, after a clean gap), it is a period. If not, it is istihadah, and you keep praying.
• Irregular cycles are very common, especially in the first years. Keep a simple record of the days. It makes every question easier.
• Spotting (a few drops) when your period is not due, or brown and yellow after you were clean, is not a period. Wash it, make wudu, and pray.

Periods and Ramadan

• If your period starts during the day, even a few minutes before Maghrib, that day's fast does not count. Make it up later.
• If your period ends before Fajr, fast that day, even if you make ghusl after Fajr. Nabi ﷺ sometimes woke up needing ghusl and still fasted that day²⁷.
• Make up the missed days any time before the next Ramadan. Aisha used to make up her days in Sha'ban, the month before Ramadan²⁸.
• In the last ten nights you can still seek Laylat al-Qadr with dua, dhikr and charity. Its reward is open to you too.

On Hajj, if a woman's period comes after she has done the main tawaf, she can travel home without the farewell tawaf. Nabi ﷺ said this about his wife Safiyyah²⁹.

Common questions

I am 11 and my period just started. What changes?

Congratulations, you are now an adult in Islam. From now on you pray and fast like every adult. During your period you take a break from both, and you make ghusl when it ends. Talk to your mother or a woman you trust. Every question is a good question.

My period started at school. Have I missed a prayer?

If the prayer time had already started, Shafi'is and Hanbalis say make that one prayer up after your period. Hanafis and Malikis say you do not need to. Either way, no sin is on you.

Do I have to make up the prayers I missed during my period?

No. Never. Only the fasts of Ramadan are made up³⁰.

Can I read Quran on my phone during my period?

Touching the phone is fine. Listening and reading in your heart are fine. Reciting aloud: Malikis allow it, and the other schools say wait. Follow your local masjid or a scholar you trust.

My period seems to have stopped, but I still see a little brown.

If it is still within your usual days, wait a little until it is fully clean. If you had already become clean and then saw brown or yellow, it does not count. Make wudu and pray³¹.

Can I go to the masjid for a class during my period?

Classrooms and halls outside the prayer area are fine. For the prayer hall itself, most scholars say do not stay there. You can still listen, learn and make dua.

I have bled for 20 days. What do I do?

A period cannot last that long. Count your usual period days as your period. The days after that are istihadah: make ghusl once, then pray, with wudu for each prayer. See a doctor too.

I am a new Muslim. Will my period stop me from being a good Muslim?

Not at all. Allah wrote it for you, and He rewards you for following His rules during it. Keep your dhikr and dua going, and you stay close to Allah all month.