[Chapter: The Woman Experiencing Persistent Vaginal Bleeding (Mustahadah)]

• I heard Ishaq say: "Some of the people of Medina debated with the people of Iraq. He said: 'If you claim that the woman experiencing persistent vaginal bleeding (mustahadah) leaves off prayer for ten [days], and you have set the minimum period of purity at fifteen days, then what is the status of these five remaining days of the month? Why did you not establish a menstrual period and a period of purity within the month? Since there is no established tradition (sunnah) regarding the period of purity, if you had established a menstrual period and a period of purity within the month, it would have been more consistent with the Book and the Sunnah.'"

And likewise, Malik ibn Anas said: "In the month, there is a menstrual period and a period of purity for the mustahadah." This applies to the one who does not have known menstrual cycles. When they presented to Malik that some of the women of the Majishun family experience menstruation for twenty days as a regular period, Malik said: "A woman does not menstruate for more than half of her lifetime." Malik said regarding the woman who has known menstrual cycles: "She should observe an additional three days after her menstrual cycles; she leaves off prayer during them just as she leaves off prayer during the days of her menstrual cycles." Meaning: Once the days of her menstrual cycles have passed plus an additional three days, she is, at that point, considered a mustahadah.

They said: "Indeed, Malik held this position until he died," and he interpreted the three days he added to her menstrual cycles based on a hadith narrated by some of the people of Medina which contains weakness, which they attribute [to the Prophet], that he commanded her to observe three days after her menstrual cycles, then she is a mustahadah.