Section: His statement: "six or seven"—the apparent meaning is that he referred her back to her ijtihad (legal reasoning) and her opinion regarding what she strongly believes is closest to her habit or the habit of the women of her family, or what is more likely to be menstruation. Al-Qadi mentioned this in some places, and he mentioned in another place that he gave her a choice between six and seven, not by way of ijtihad, just as he gave the one who has intercourse with a menstruating woman the choice between paying as kaffarah (expiation) one dinar or half a dinar, based on the evidence that the particle "aw" (or) is for providing a choice. The former, if Allah wills, is more correct; because if we were to make her have a choice, it would lead to giving her a choice on the seventh day between the prayer being obligatory upon her or prohibited, and she has no choice (16) in that matter at all. As for the kaffarah, it is a volitional act in which one can be given a choice between paying a dinar or half a dinar, and the obligatory amount is half a dinar in both cases; for one is not given a choice between performing or abandoning an obligation. As for their statement that "aw" (or) denotes a choice, we say: It can also be for the sake of ijtihad, like the saying of Allah the Almighty: "Then either grace thereafter or ransom" (17). The word "imma" (either) is like "aw" (or) in its usage, and the Imam does not have any choice regarding captives except to act according to what his ijtihad leads him to believe is in the best interest.

Section: The woman who has forgotten does not escape one of two states: either she is ignorant of her month or she is knowledgeable of it. If she is ignorant of her month, we refer her back to the lunar month, so we designate one menstruation for her every month; based on the hadith of Hamna, and because it is the common case, so she is referred back to it, just as she is referred back to the six and seven. If she is knowledgeable of her month, we designate one menstruation for her in every one of her months; because that is her habit, so she is referred back to it, just as the woman with a habit is referred back to her habit regarding the number of days. However, whenever her month is less than twenty days, we do not designate for her more menstruation than what is in excess of thirteen days or fifteen days; because if she were to menstruate for more than that, her period of purity would decrease below the minimum period of purity, and there is no way for that. Does she observe her days of menstruation from the beginning of every month, or by way of inquiry and ijtihad? There are two views: One of them is that she observes it from the beginning of every month if it is possible; because the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)