Stability and Change of Menstruation (Hayız) and Postpartum Bleeding (Nifas) Habit
The nifas habit becomes established based on the number of days a woman experiences bleeding up to 40 days after childbirth. If she experiences a different pattern after a second childbirth, her nifas habit changes. In other words, the nifas habit is fixed by a single observed duration, and it can also change by observing a different duration.1,2,3
For a girl who reaches puberty through menstruation, the menstruation habit becomes established by seeing bleeding for more than 3 days and less than 10 days.
A woman’s menstrual habit changes by observing a different pattern even once.4,5,6 For example, if a woman whose habit is 5 days of menstruation and 25 days of purity sees 7 days of bleeding after completing her cycle and 15 days of purity, her habit becomes 7 days. For the change to be valid, the different bleeding must be more than 3 days and less than 10 days, because bleeding less than 3 days or more than 10 days is considered istihaza (irregular bleeding).
A woman who experiences irregular menstruation every month must understand the concept of habit transition (intiqal) in order to calculate her menstrual and purity days correctly.
Intiqal occurs in two ways:
- Transition in terms of place and position of days.
- Transition in terms of number.
Transition in Terms of Position (Makan)
When menstruation occurs outside the usual days, the position (makan) of the habit changes. For example, if a woman whose habit is 5 days of bleeding at the beginning of each month and 25 days of purity later sees 5 days of bleeding followed by 20 days of purity in the next month, the position of her menstruation habit changes. However, the number does not change.
The purity days also shift numerically from 25 to 20.
Transition in Terms of Number
This means the change of the menstrual habit in terms of the number of days. The bleeding must be more than 3 days and less than 10 days, because outside this range it is considered istihaza, and istihaza cannot determine a valid habit.
For example, if a woman whose habit is 5 days of bleeding at the beginning of each month later experiences 11 days of bleeding, her habit in terms of number does not change and remains 5 days. The remaining 6 days are considered istihaza.
Note: A woman whose habit is 5 days of bleeding and 25 days of purity may not always remain fixed at 5 days if she later experiences bleeding exceeding 10 days. Detailed explanation can be found in our article on Istihaza .
1 Ahmet Mahmut ÜNLÜ, Faith and Islam Catechism (Istanbul: Tuana Publishing, 2015), 240
2 Ahmet Mahmut ÜNLÜ, Treatise on Women’s Conditions (Istanbul: Tuana Publishing, 2015), 21
3 Imam Birgivi, Conditions Specific to Women, trans. Hüsamettin VANLIOĞLU, Fatih KALENDER, Abdullah HİÇDÖNMEZ and Emin Ali YÜKSEL (Istanbul: Ismailaga Publishing, 2024), 23
4 ÜNLÜ, Faith and Islam Catechism, 240
5 ÜNLÜ, Treatise on Women’s Conditions, 21
6 Birgivi, Conditions Specific to Women, 23
