563 - Ahmad narrated to us, saying: Waki' narrated to us, saying: Al-A'mash narrated to us, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Urwah, from Aisha, who said: Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: O Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who experiences irregular bleeding (istihada) and do not become pure; should I abandon prayer? He said: "No, that is merely a vein, not menstruation. Sit for the days of your [usual] cycles, then perform ghusl, perform wudu for every prayer, and then pray, even if blood drips onto the mat."
He said: Ishaq ibn Ibrahim dictated to us, saying: "The basis of menstruation upon which the scholars have agreed is a day and a night; menstruation is not less than that in their view, and they have recognized it as such in their time. If a woman's menstruation was for distinct days, and then the bleeding persisted until the term 'istihada' (irregular bleeding) applied to her, then she should sit for the days and the amount of the month that she used to menstruate moderately before she was afflicted, then she enters into the state of istihada.
Istihada is distinct from menstrual blood; it is merely an eruptive vein. When a woman experiences istihada, she prays 281 and fasts until there comes to her, after that, the fresh blood which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, referred to: 'When menstruation approaches, leave off prayer, and when menstruation departs, perform ghusl.'"
