mustahadah in the fourth month. It has been transmitted from Ahmad what indicates the correctness of the companions' statement; Salih narrated, saying: My father said: The first time blood starts for a woman, she sits for six or seven days, which is the most that women sit, according to the hadith of Hamna. The apparent meaning of this is that she sits for that during the beginning of her menstruation. And his saying: "the most that women sit" means that this is how most women menstruate. Harb narrated from him, saying: I asked Abu Abd Allah and said: A woman for whom menstruation starts for the first time and the blood continues, how many days does she sit? He said: If there are women like her who menstruate, then if she wishes, she may sit for six or seven days until a menstruation [period] and time becomes clear to her, and if she wishes to exercise caution, she may sit for one day the first time until she clarifies her time. He said in another place: They said this, and they said that, so whichever she adopts is permissible. Al-Khallal narrated, with his chain of narration, from 'Ata' regarding a virgin who experiences istihadah and does not know a cycle for herself: He said: She should look at the cycle of her mother, sister, paternal aunt, or maternal aunt, then she should abandon prayer for the number of those days, perform ghusl, and pray. Hanbal said: Abu Abd Allah said: This is good, and he considered it very excellent. This indicates that he adopted it, and this is the view of 'Ata', al-Thawri, and al-Awza'i. It is also narrated from Ahmad that she sits for the maximum duration of menstruation, except that the famous [view] in the narration from him is like what al-Khiraqi mentioned. Malik, Abu Hanifa, and al-Shafi'i said: She sits for all the days she sees blood therein up to the maximum duration of menstruation. If it ceases at its maximum or less, the whole thing is menstruation; because we ruled that the beginning of the blood is menstruation despite the possibility of it being istihadah, so likewise is its middle. And because we ruled it as being menstruation, we do not invalidate what we have ruled by mere possibility, just as in the case of the one with a habit. And because menstrual blood is blood of inherent nature, while istihadah is blood resulting from an ailment that has occurred or a vein that has ruptured, and the basis regarding her is health and soundness, and that her blood is the blood of nature rather than illness. As for our evidence, sitting for her for more than the minimum menstruation is a ruling that absolves her responsibility from an act of worship obligatory upon her; so it is not ruled upon the first time, like the woman in the waiting period who is not ruled to have had her responsibility for the waiting period absolved by the first menstruation, and the day and night [ruling] does not become binding.