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Obstetrics
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Nonmenstrual
Bleeding
The Mustahada
The
mustahada is the woman who has bleeding per vaginam other than her
menstruation. Usually a woman knows about her menstruation, how it looks
like and feels like, the date it is expected and the duration it lasts.
As a matter of fact one of the terms referring to menstruation in the
Arabic language is "aada", which literally means habit or custom,
and is known by ongoing observation time after time. Istihada, that we
might for convenience call pseudomenstruation, is bleeding other than
a woman's menstruation and outside her personal pattern she is chronically
accustomed to although "lstihada" might sometimes belie structural
or functional disease, jurisprudence treats it as a different entity from
menstruation. The mustahada should not refrain from prayer provided she
performs a local wash, puts a pad (or tampon) and peforms a separate wodou
(ablution) for each of the five prayer times every day. She is not subject
to the total bath (ghusl or tuhr) as is the case with menstruation. She
also does not abstain from fasting. She can carry out the tawaf around
the Kaaba.
Whether
the case is one of recurrence of bleeding after the end of menstruation,
or a continuation of menstruation beyond the limit she is used to as her
normal, the condition is "istihada', or pseudomenstruation from the
religious point of view. Um-Salama, the wife of the prophet consulted
him about a woman with prolonged bleeding and he said:
"Let her wait for the number of days and nights her period used to
last without prayer, and then take her (ritual) bath, pad herself, and
resume her prayers. " (Malik, Al Shafeai)
Another
pattern of the "mustahada" is the woman who lacks the existance
or the knowledge of a definite personal menstrual pattern to use as a
reference. Examples of this are the menarche (first period ever in the
life of the female) or the woman forgetful of her normal pattern. When
Amna bint Jahsh, the sister in law of the prophet, sought his counsel
whether to pray while she had a lengthy episode of bleeding and could
not recognize her menstrual span, he gave her advice including:
"Menstruate like other women menstruate for the same time they menstruate
and cease bleeding and do that every month". (Ahmad, Termizi, Abu
Dawood)
The
average duration of menstruation prevailing among other women was acknowledged
as a suitable standard to go by in her case. The quality of the bleeding
can also be considered. The woman might lack normal menstruation but have
knowledge of the features of menstrual blood and is therefore able to
tell whether her current bleeding has the features of menstrual blood,
and if not, it would be regarded as "istihada". Such was the
case of Fatima Um Habeesh when the prophet told her:
"If
it is menstrual blood it is blackish and can be identified, in which case
you should refrain from prayer. But if it is a different blood then do
"wodou" and pray". (Abu Dawood, Nissa'i, Darokotni, Ibn
Habban)
Certain
other conditions are treated on the same lines as "istihada".
The first is the passage of discharge from the vagina apart from blood
( leucorrhoea). Vaginal discharge of a yellowish or white turbid character
occurring at the tailing off of menstruation is considered part of menstruation.
Women used to introduce a cotton pledge into the opening to know whether
menstruation has gone or not, and used to send the cotton bearing this
discharge to Aisha, wife of the prophet (and his direct student and therefore
reliable authority) and she would say: "Don't hurry, wait until the
cotton comes out white." (Malik, Mohammad ibn al Hassan}
But
when the period was over and the ritual bath taken, vaginal discharge
would not be given heed according to Um-Atiyya who was an equally reliable
authority She said "We did not use to pay any heed to a yellowish
or turbid discharge once we have taken the bath."(Abu Dawood)
The
same applies to the medical condition called stress incontinence of urine,
which entails the involuntary passage of some urine even at a slight effort.
It might affect men as well as women. Medical treatment should be sought,
but from the point of view of worship, local wash and a "wodou"
for each of the five prayer times, and the patient is allowed to resume
prayer fasting and tawaf around the Kaabat and need not worry for they
have their excuse even if urine dribbles during worship.
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