Legal Status of the Blood after Miscarriage

[ummtaalib]

What is the Legal Status of the Blood from a Woman Who Had a Miscarriage?

 

Answered by Ustadh Faraz A. Khan

 

Question:

Assalam alaikum,

What are the details for a women when she has a miscarriage and reading salah at different stages of the pregnancy?

 

I have heard if it is an early pregnancy (she has a miscarriage at 6 weeks) then this is not counted as Nifas rather Istihada. Is this correct?

 

Answer:

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and faith.

 

The basic rule is that if the miscarried fetus had any sort of physical development- such as hand, foot, finger, nail, or hair – then it is a baby and the blood is considered postnatal bleeding (nifas).

 

If no physical development appears on the fetus, it is not deemed a baby. In that case, the blood that exits afterwards is deemed menstrual blood (hayd) if it lasts three full days (72 hours) and was preceded by a complete tuhr (i.e., no blood for at least fifteen days) since her last menstrual period.

 

Otherwise, it is most likely non-menstrual discharge (istihada), but one would have to consult a scholar with specific details as it could still be menstrual blood depending on the exact scenario.

[Hadiyya 'Ala'iyya; Haskafi/Ibn Abidin, al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Radd al-Muhtar]

 

At six weeks, it is highly unlikely that the fetus was developed, making the blood either hayd or istihada depending on when she saw it.

 

In any case, please consult a scholar with the specifics of the scenario.

 

And Allah knows best.

wassalam
Faraz A. Khan

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Source

[ummtaalib]

Bleeding after a miscarriage

 

Q: I was 11 and half weeks pregnant and started brownish spotting. I went to the gynae who couldn't find a heartbeat (they refer to it as a missed miscarriage as I had no symptoms of a miscarriage). Few hours later I had a heavy flow and the next morning went in for a D&C (scraping of the womb) please advise if this is istihaaza?

A: If the limbs of the foetus were not formed then if the blood flowed for three days or more it would be regarded as haidh. The woman will follow her previous menstruating cycle. E.g. If she was used to bleeding for five days and she now bled for over ten days, five days will be regarded as haidh and the remainder days as istihaadhah. If the limbs of the foetus were formed, then the bleeding will be regarded as nifaas.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

والسقط إن ظهر بعض خلقه من أصبع أو ظفر أو شعر ولد فتصير به نفساء هكذا في التبيين وإن لم يظهر شيء من خلقه فلا نفاس لها فإن أمكن جعل المرئي حيضا يجعل حيضا وإلا فهو استحاضة (هندية 1/37)

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)