Question
Reference number: 820610 | Fasting | March 22, 2023
What is the ruling if a woman suffers from an extended period; in other words, she used to get a five-day period, but because she is diseased, her period lasts for fourteen days?
Answer
Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.
Referring to your question, the maximum number of days is fifteen. Thus, if the blood that goes out of a woman is identical to menstruation blood, it means that what you have is menstruation, and so you can neither pray nor fast until you see the purity sign. However, if a woman can distinguish between two types of blood especially the color of each; for example, she sees light-red blood, then that blood is considered to be bleeding between periods (not menstruation).
Therefore, if a woman’s period lasts longer than usual, but less than 15 days, with the same type and color of blood, she cannot pray or fast as this is menstruation. She has to wait until she sees the purity sign. If bleeding lasts longer than the maximum number of days (longer than 15 days), this is considered bleeding between periods, and so she has to have the purity shower, and she can fast and pray provided that she has to perform ablution before each prayer.