How can a woman know that she has become pure from menstruation: by seeing the white discharge (al-qassah al-bayḍāʾ) or by dryness? Is what she is accustomed to—waiting for the white discharge to appear by pressing on herself—correct? If it is not correct, does she have to make up the prayers? And is the discharge of unclean mucus after performing ghusl from menstruation considered nothing?

The decisive factor between menstruation and purity is the white discharge (al-qassah al-bayḍāʾ) or dryness (al-jufūf). If a woman observes dryness, she is pure and is not required to wait for the white discharge. For a woman who missed prayers or fasting due to ignorance of the obligation to make them up (qaḍāʾ), she must make them up according to the majority of jurists. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah held the view that it is not obligatory to make up an omitted pillar or condition due to ignorance, and this opinion has strength, though making them up is more cautious.

If a woman observes purity by one of its two signs (dryness or white discharge), she is not required to exert pressure to confirm it. It is sufficient for her to insert a cotton swab and examine it. Non-bloody, unclean discharge is considered brownish discharge (al-kudrah), and it takes the ruling of menstruation according to the Hanbalis if it occurs during the accustomed period. However, if the accustomed period has ended, the brownish discharge is not considered menstruation.