Hadith 25

Sahih Bukhari

Book 6: Menstrual Periods

Chapter 19

The beginning and the ending of menstrual periods

باب إِقْبَالِ الْمَحِيضِ وَإِدْبَارِهِ

Some women used to send the pads of cotton with traces of yellowish discharge to ‘Aishah رضي الله عنها (for her verdict to know whether they had become clean from menses or not). And ‘Aishah رضي الله عنها would say, “Do not hurry till you see the cotton pad is white (meaning the perfect disappearance of menses).” The daughter of Zaid bin Thabit was told that some women used to ask for candles at midnight to see whether the menses had stopped or not. On that, the daughter of Zaid said that the ladies (the wives of the Prophet’s Companions) had never done so, and she blamed them (the former women).
وَكُنَّ نِسَاءٌ يَبْعَثْنَ إِلَى عَائِشَةَ بِالدُّرْجَةِ فِيهَا الْكُرْسُفُ فِيهِ الصُّفْرَةُ فَتَقُولُ لاَ تَعْجَلْنَ حَتَّى تَرَيْنَ الْقَصَّةَ الْبَيْضَاءَ. تُرِيدُ بِذَلِكَ الطُّهْرَ مِنَ الْحَيْضَةِ. وَبَلَغَ ابْنَةَ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ أَنَّ نِسَاءً يَدْعُونَ بِالْمَصَابِيحِ مِنْ جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ يَنْظُرْنَ إِلَى الطُّهْرِ فَقَالَتْ مَا كَانَ النِّسَاءُ يَصْنَعْنَ هَذَا. وَعَابَتْ عَلَيْهِنَّ.
Sahih al-Bukhari 320
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّ فَاطِمَةَ بِنْتَ أَبِي حُبَيْشٍ، كَانَتْ تُسْتَحَاضُ فَسَأَلَتِ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ ‏ ‏‏.‏
"‏ ذَلِكِ عِرْقٌ، وَلَيْسَتْ بِالْحَيْضَةِ، فَإِذَا أَقْبَلَتِ الْحَيْضَةُ فَدَعِي الصَّلاَةَ، وَإِذَا أَدْبَرَتْ فَاغْتَسِلِي وَصَلِّي ‏"
`Aisha:

Fatima bint Abi Hubaish used to have bleeding in between the periods, so she asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about it. He replied, "The bleeding is from a blood vessel and not the menses. So give up the prayers when the (real) menses begins and when it has finished, take a bath and start praying."