The rules of prayer and fasting during postnatal bleeding, the reported forty days, and the differences between the schools.
AI-generated English narration.
Nifas is the bleeding that follows childbirth. It is treated in fiqh in the same way as menstruation, with its own time limits.
What the sources say
Umm Salamah reported that a woman with bleeding after delivery would refrain from prayer for forty days or forty nights (Sunan Abi Dawud 311, graded hasan sahih by al-Albani and hasan by others).
In practice
- Prayer: not prayed during nifas and not made up.
- Fasting: not observed; the missed days are made up later.
- When it ends: once the bleeding stops, even before forty days, she takes a ghusl and prays and fasts again. If it stops and returns later, the schools differ, so ask a teacher.
- If it continues beyond the limit: it is treated as istihadah (see the next lesson), so she prays and fasts and makes wudu as required.
Recovering from childbirth is a demanding time. If you have concerns about your health or your bleeding, speak to your doctor as well as a teacher.
Key points
- Nifas is the bleeding that follows childbirth.
- Scholars apply the same worship rules as for menstruation: no prayer or fasting, a ghusl when it ends, and no intercourse.
- Umm Salamah reported that women in the Prophet’s time refrained from prayer for forty days or nights after childbirth.
- Scholars differ on the maximum length; there is no minimum, and a woman who becomes clean sooner takes a ghusl and resumes worship.
Hadith
Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu'minin: The woman having bleeding after delivery (puerperal haemorrhage) would refrain (from prayer) for forty days or forty nights; and we would anoint our faces with an aromatic herb called wars to remove dark spots.
Sunan Abi Dawud, no. 311 .
Hadith text and grading above are shown as supplied by their source. HikmahBridge does not grade Hadith itself. See Sources & Methodology.
Scholarly notes
Maximum length: the Hanafi and Hanbali schools set the maximum at forty days; the Maliki and Shafi‘i schools set it at sixty days, based on observation of women’s experience. Minimum: there is no minimum; a woman who becomes clean sooner is treated as clean. Miscarriage: whether bleeding after a miscarriage is nifas depends on whether the fetus had taken form, and the schools and contemporary scholars differ on how to judge this; ask a teacher and a doctor. Follow your school or a trusted teacher.
FAQ
Do I make up the prayers I missed during nifas?
No. As with menstruation, the prayers are not made up. The missed fasts are made up.
What if the bleeding stops after two weeks?
Take a ghusl and resume prayer and fasting. The forty or sixty days are a limit, not a fixed length.
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