Ruling 481

A woman with a habit of time who experiences bleeding for more than ten days and cannot determine it according to what was said in Ruling 479 can choose any number of days from three to ten that she feels is appropriate for the duration of her ḥayḍ; and it is better that she consider it to be seven days if she feels it appropriate for herself. Of course, the number of days that she considers to be ḥayḍ must be in accordance with the time of her habit, as mentioned in the previous ruling.

3. A woman with the habit of duration

[Women with a habit of duration are of two types:] 

1. a woman whose duration of hayd is the same on two consecutive months but the time of her bleeding is not the same in each. In this case, her habit is considered to be however many days she experiences bleeding. For example, if in the first month she experiences bleeding from the first of the month to the fifth, and in the second month from the eleventh to the fifteenth, her habit will be five days.
2. a woman who on two consecutive months experiences bleeding for three days or more, then her period stops for one or more days, and then she experiences bleeding again, and the time of bleeding in the first month differs from that of the second, such that all the days on which she experiences bleeding plus all the days on which her period stops in between do not exceed ten, and the number of days on which she experiences bleeding is the same. In this case, all the days on which she experiences bleeding is her habit of hayd, and on the days that her bleeding stops, she must, as a precautionary measure, do the things that are obligatory for a non-ḥāʾiḍ and refrain from doing the things that are unlawful for a ḥāʾiḍ. For example, if in the first month she experiences bleeding from the first to the third of the month, then her bleeding stops for two days, and then she experiences bleeding again for three days, and in the second month she experiences bleeding from the eleventh to the thirteenth, then her bleeding stops for two days, and then she experiences bleeding for three days, in such a case, her habit will be six days. However, if in one month, for example, she experiences bleeding for eight days and in the second month for four days, then her bleeding stops, and then she experiences bleeding again, and the total number of the days on which she experiences bleeding plus the days on which her bleeding stops in between is eight, then in this case, the woman does not have a habit of duration; rather, she is considered to be a muḍṭaribah (i.e. a woman with a disordered duration), the ruling for which will come later.