Question: Is it fard (obligatory) to learn the knowledge about haid (menstrual bleeding) and nifas (postnatal bleeding)?
ANSWER
Yes, it is fard for every Muslim male and female to learn basic Islamic knowledge. Hence, the husband must teach the rules about menstrual and postnatal bleeding to his wife. If he does not know them, he should permit her to refer to ladies who are knowledgeable about the subject. A woman whose husband does not give permission should go to learn it without asking his permission, for learning the knowledge of haid is essential for such religious matters as wudu, salat, reading the Qur’an al-karim, fasting, pilgrimage, reaching puberty, marrying, divorcing, and the period a woman must observe after the death of her husband or after a divorce.

When a girl starts her periods, she becomes baligha (an adolescent), that is, a woman. A girl who has not started her periods is considered baligha (in a state of puberty) if she has completed her 15 years. When a girl is over 8 years old, it becomes fard for her mother or, if she does not have a mother, her grandmothers, elder sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, respectively, to teach her about haid and nifas. If they do not, they themselves and their husbands will have committed a grave sin.

The knowledge of haid is not all that difficult. If it were difficult, our religion would not have ordered everybody, scholars and laymen alike, to learn it. Once the basics are learned, there is nothing difficult to understand.

A young man named Ahmad bin Hafs married a girl in Bukhara (a city in central Asia). The first night the bride asked the groom if he had learned the knowledge of haid (menstruation). The young man answered in the negative. The bride then said, “Allahu ta’ala orders ‘Protect yourself and those under your command from Hell-fire!’ How can an ignorant man protect them?” Her statement touched the young man so much that he entrusted his wife to Allahu ta’ala and departed to study. He studied at Marw for years and came back to his wife as a scholar. His teacher named him Abu Hafs al-Kabir.

Keeping a record of one’s menses
In order to distinguish the days of haid (menstrual bleeding) from the days of istihada (non-menstrual bleeding, dysfunctional uterine bleeding) in a month that has days of bleeding and purity, it is necessary to know how many days a woman experienced menstruation and purity in the previous month.

If a woman bled for more than 10 days in the previous month, it is necessary to know her days of purity and menstruation in the last month during which she bled for 10 days or less than it.

Those who imitate the Maliki Madhhab should also know the maximum menstruation period they have had up to now because if a woman’s norm changes the next month and bleeding continues, her new norm is the longer period of menstruation she has so far had plus 3 days. Bleeding that continues thereafter, as well as bleeding that continues after the 15th day in any case, is considered non-menstrual bleeding.

Women who cannot differentiate between menstrual bleeding and non-menstrual bleeding should write their days of bleeding and cleanliness when they ask questions about their menses. They should write their days of bleeding and purity like this: “I remained free from menstruation for 23 days and then bled for 7 days. In this month, I remained free from it for 25 days and bled for 8 days.” In other words, they should specify the number of days they experienced bleeding. They should not write it with dates like this: “I bled from February 3 to February 9.” It may be confusing because we cannot know whether the questioner means to include these two days in the days of menstruation.

In order to determine all aforementioned days, every woman should keep a record of her cycles.

Some terms related to menstruation:

haid: menstruation or menses
fasid bleeding: the blood that is not regarded as menstruation; istihada
istihada: days of bleeding that are not considered menstruation; also called excusable bleeding
fasid purity: If there are days of istihada within the 15 or more days of purity, all these days are called (days of) fasid purity. The days of purity that fall within menstrual period are called fasid purity, too.
nifas: postnatal bleeding; lochia
ayisa: an old woman who is on menopause
The age for menopause is 50 according to the Hanbali Madhhab, 55 according to the Hanafi Madhhab, 60 according to the Shafi’i Madhhab, and 70 according to the Maliki Madhhab. The blood that flows after these ages is not haid, but istihada.

The age for menopause
Question: At what age is a woman considered to be on menopause?
ANSWER
According to the Hanafi Madhhab, if blood flows from a woman after the age of 55, it is not considered menstrual bleeding. This is the fatwa. However, according to some scholars, if the color of blood is black or dark red, it is menstrual. If the discharge is yellowish or greenish or earthy, it is considered non-menstrual bleeding.

Question: When a woman is calculating her age for menopause, should she calculate it according to the Gregorian or Muslim calendar?
ANSWER
Her age according to the Muslim calendar is taken into consideration. In the Hanafi Madhhab, a woman who has reached the age of 55 according to the Muslim calendar is considered to be on menstruation. So when she is 53 years and 3 three months old according to the Gregorian calendar, she is 55 years old according to the Muslim calendar. If the number of solar years is multiplied by 1.0307, the product will be the number of Hegira lunar years. If the number of lunar years is multiplied by 0.97023, we will get the number of Gregorian solar years. For example, if a woman is 68 years old according to the Gregorian calendar, when we multiply it by 1.0307, the result will be 70 years according to the Muslim calendar. And if a woman is 70 years old according to the Muslim calendar, when we multiply her age by 0.97023, the result will be about 68 years.