1359 - Issue: He said: "And if her menstruation has ceased and she does not know what caused it to cease, she shall wait for a period of nine months and one month in place of the menstrual cycle."

There are two narrations regarding this issue as well; one of them is that her istibra' is ten months. The second is that it is a year: nine months for pregnancy, because that is its most common duration, and three months in place of the three [months] by which those who have reached menopause are verified. We have already mentioned the two narrations regarding the woman who has reached menopause, and we mentioned that the preferred view from Ahmad is her istibra' with three months. Here, he placed one month in place of the menstrual cycle because the consideration of its repetition in the case of the one who has reached menopause is to ascertain her freedom from pregnancy, and her freedom from it here has been known by the passing of its most common duration, so the month was placed in the place of the menstrual cycle in accordance with analogy.

Section: And if she knows what caused the menstruation to cease, she shall remain in the state of istibra' until the menstruation returns, at which point she verifies herself with one menstrual cycle, unless she becomes a woman who has reached menopause, in which case she verifies herself according to the istibra' of those who have reached menopause. And if she is in doubt about herself, she is like a free woman who is in doubt. We have already mentioned her ruling earlier in this chapter. And God Almighty knows best.

1360 - Issue: He said: "And if she is pregnant, then until she delivers."

This, praise be to God, has no disagreement in it. For God Almighty said: "And for those who are pregnant, their period is until they deliver their burden." And the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "A pregnant woman shall not be engaged in intercourse until she delivers." This is because the waiting period ('iddah) of a free woman, a slave woman, a woman whose husband has died, a divorced woman, and the istibra' of every slave woman when she is...