• I heard Ishaq ibn Ibrahim say: "The tradition (sunnah) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions after him regarding the menstruating woman has been established: that she abandons prayer during her days of menstruation, and the consensus of all scholars is upon this. However, scholars have differed regarding the pregnant woman who sees fresh blood or yellowish discharge:

• Some of them held the view that she should abandon prayer if she menstruates and prays just as she used to menstruate before that and achieves purity at the time of purity; these are the people of Medina.

• Others held the view that she should pray, whether the blood continues or not, saying: 'There is no menstruation during pregnancy.'

There is no established tradition from the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding this that provides a decisive ruling between them.

There is a difference of opinion reported from 'A'ishah—who is among the most knowledgeable of women regarding this matter—and the most authentic of the narrations from her is: that if a pregnant woman sees blood, she refrains from prayer. If she menstruates at the time of her cycle before pregnancy and achieves purity at its time just as she used to achieve purity before that, then that is menstruation, and she shall abandon prayer.

This is the most similar thing to the past tradition that was authentically reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) concerning the woman experiencing irregular bleeding (mustahada), that she should abandon prayer for [a period of] her cycles. Furthermore, a number of scholars—such as Malik ibn Anas and his peers—were upon this, and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi adopted it, saying: 'If it occurs as we have described, according to the time of her cycle and her purity just as she used to menstruate and achieve purity before her pregnancy, then it is menstruation without doubt, along with what 'A'ishah said: "The pregnant woman menstruates," and in the statement of 'Umar where he said: "This is a woman who spills blood while she is pregnant, her child is in her womb"—a sign where he identified what she saw during her pregnancy as blood."'