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What is the ruling on fasting, prayer, and making up missed days, given my suffering from constant bleeding and difficulty distinguishing between menstruation (hayd) and irregular bleeding (istihada), along with undergoing treatment that increases the bleeding and also treatment with ruqyah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman is permitted to break her fast if a trustworthy doctor grants permission. She may also use medications or injections to prevent menstruation if the doctor permits and their harm is safeguarded against. A woman is considered to be in a state of istihadah (non-menstrual bleeding) and must pray, fast, and perform ablution for each prayer if the bleeding continues for more than fifteen days. If she has a regular habit, the duration of her habit is considered menstruation, and any excess is istihadah. If she can distinguish (between menstrual and non-menstrual blood), she should abstain during the period she distinguishes as menstruation. If she has neither a regular habit nor the ability to distinguish, she should abstain for the duration of the common habit of the women in her family, which is six or seven days, and any excess is istihadah. She is obligated to make up for the missed fasts, and feeding the poor does not suffice for it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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