What is the ruling on prayer and reading the Qur’an in the event of intermittent bleeding after forty [days], and is ghusl obligatory for every prayer?

The maximum period for post-natal bleeding (nifas) is forty days. If the blood exceeds this period, it is not considered nifas. If it coincides with the time of the regular menstrual cycle, then it is menstruation (hayd). Anything other than that is irregular vaginal bleeding (istihada). A woman experiencing istihada must perform ablution (wudu) for each prayer after its time has begun, and she can pray both obligatory and supererogatory prayers with this ablution until the time for that prayer exits, while taking precautions by using a cloth or similar means to prevent leakage. If the expected time of menstruation (her regular cycle) arrives, she should abstain from fasting and praying, and perform a ritual bath (ghusl) after it ends. If a woman does not have a regular cycle, she should distinguish menstrual blood by its characteristics, or she should sit out six or seven days by estimation, then perform ghusl and consider anything thereafter as istihada.