Chapter: The Duration of the Woman in Postpartum Bleeding (Nufasa')

• I asked Abu 'Abd Allah Ahmad ibn Hanbal, I said: How long should the woman in postpartum bleeding refrain [from prayer]? He said: "Forty days." I said: What if she becomes pure before the forty days? He said: She should fast and pray. I said: May her husband have intercourse with her? He said: "It does not please me [that he should do so] until the forty days [have passed]." I said: What if he has intercourse with her before the forty days and she has not yet become pure? He said: "He incurs what one who has intercourse with a menstruating woman incurs." I said: What if the blood does not cease for the woman in postpartum bleeding within the forty days? He said: "She is in the position of a woman suffering from istihada (chronic irregular vaginal bleeding)."

• Ishaq ibn Ibrahim dictated to us, saying: "For the woman in postpartum bleeding, the duration is forty days; this is a past sunnah (established practice). Its ruling is not like the ruling of menstruation, because it has become clear to people that menstruation may last for many days, and for some women, it lasts for fewer days than that. As for the woman in postpartum bleeding, the majority of scholars hold to forty days, because of the sunnah that has been established in that regard. If it exceeds forty days, she is considered pure."

• I asked Ishaq - once more -, I said: If the blood does not cease for the woman in postpartum bleeding within the forty days, what is her state? He said: "If the forty days have passed, she should perform ghusl, pray, and perform wudu for every prayer. When the time of her menstrual cycle arrives, she should refrain from prayer." He also said: "[She should do this] once a month, according to the hadith of Hamna."

• I heard Ishaq - once more - saying: "The sunnah for the woman in postpartum bleeding is not to exceed forty days, because of what we have found regarding her timing in the authentic tradition (athar). We have designated that as the end of her time, unless she sees purity before that, in which case she should perform ghusl and pray. No time for prayer should pass over her while she is pure, except that she performs ghusl and prays."