Abu 'Amr said: "As for the virgin who has not given birth to a child before, her term is the term of her female relatives. If she does not know their term, then she concludes at forty nights, after which she is considered a mustahada (a woman with chronic vaginal bleeding)."
It was said to Abu 'Amr: "What about a woman who has given birth to children but does not see purity for two months?" He said: "That is her term."
It was said to Abu 'Amr: "What about a woman who has given birth to children and knows that her term is forty(1) nights or more than that, but she gave birth to a child and saw purity in it after a month or less than that?" He said: "She performs ghusl and prays." It was said to Abu 'Amr: "What if the blood returns to her?" He said: "If it is after a day or two, she refrains. If she remained pure for days and then it returned, she should do what a mustahada does."
668 - Ishaq ibn Ibrahim narrated to us, saying: Abu Badr Shuja' ibn al-Walid informed us, from 'Ali ibn 'Ali(2), from Abu Sahl—who is Kathir ibn Ziyad—from Musah al-Azdiyya, from Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who said: "A woman in postpartum confinement would sit for forty days during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and we used to coat our faces with wars (a yellow dye) to treat melasma."
669 - Ishaq narrated to us, saying: Waki' informed us, from Isra'il, from Jabir, from 'Abd Allah ibn Yasar, from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who said: "The woman in postpartum confinement sits for forty days."
(1) Thus it is in the original text, and the copyist marked it with an erasure sign (dabbabah), but the correct reading is "forty." (2) Thus it is in the original text, but the correct version is "Ibn 'Abd al-A'la."