Women used to send a small box to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) in which there was cotton with a yellowish tinge. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) would say: "Do not be hasty until you see pure whiteness." By this, she meant purity from menstruation. When the daughter of Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) learned that women, in the darkness of the night, would bring a lamp to check for purity, she said: "Women did not use to do this." She considered this act of the women to be blameworthy.

Narrated `Aisha: Fatima bint Abi Hubaish used to have bleeding in between the periods, so she asked the Prophet about it . He replied, "The bleeding is from a blood vessel and not the menses. So give up the prayers when the (real) menses begin and when it has finished, take a bath and start praying."

And Jabir bin Abdullah and Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with them) narrate from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that a menstruating woman should leave the prayer.

Narrated Mu`adha: A woman asked `Aisha, "Should I offer the prayers that which I did not offer because of menses" `Aisha said, "Are you from the Huraura' (a town in Iraq?) We were with the Prophet and used to get our periods but he never ordered us to offer them (the Prayers missed during menses)." `Aisha perhaps said, "We did not offer them."

Narrated Zainab bint Abi Salama: Um-Salama said, "I got my menses while I was lying with the Prophet under a woolen sheet. So I slipped away, took the clothes for menses and put them on. Allah's Apostle said, 'Have you got your menses?' I replied, 'Yes.' Then he called me and took me with him under the woolen sheet." Um Salama further said, "The Prophet used to kiss me while he was fasting. The Prophet and I used to take the bath of Janaba from a single pot."

Narrated Um Salama: While I was lying with the Prophet under a woolen sheet, I got my menses. I slipped away and put on the clothes for menses. The Prophet said, "Have you got your menses?" I replied, "Yes." He called me and I slept with him under the woolen sheet.

Narrated Aiyub: Hafsa said, 'We used to forbid our young women to go out for the two `Id prayers. A woman came and stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and she narrated about her sister whose husband took part in twelve holy battles along with the Prophet and her sister was with her husband in six (out of these twelve). She (the woman's sister) said, "We used to treat the wounded, look after the patients and once I asked the Prophet, 'Is there any harm for any of us to stay at home if she doesn't have a veil?' He said, 'She should cover herself with the veil of her companion and should participate in the good deeds and in the religious gathering of the Muslims.' When Um `Atiya came I asked her whether she had heard it from the Prophet. She replied, "Yes. May my father be sacrificed for him (the Prophet)! (Whenever she mentioned the Prophet she used to say, 'May my father be sacrificed for him) I have heard the Prophet saying, 'The unmarried young virgins and the mature girl who stay often screened or the young unmarried virgins who often stay screened and the menstruating women should come out and participate in the good deeds as well as the religious gathering of the faithful believers but the menstruating women should keep away from the Musalla (praying place).' " Hafsa asked Um `Atiya surprisingly, "Do you say the menstruating women?" She replied, "Doesn't a menstruating woman attend `Arafat (Hajj) and such and such (other deeds)?"

Because Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has said (in Surah Al-Baqarah) that it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs. (Therefore, just as this statement is to be accepted, likewise their statement regarding menstruation will also be accepted.)

And it is narrated from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Qadi Shurayh that if a woman’s family member, who is religious, testifies that this woman menstruates three times in a month, then his testimony will be accepted. And Ata bin Abi Rabah said that the days of a woman’s menstruation will be accepted as many as they used to be before (according to her previous habit), i.e., before divorce and so on. Ibrahim Nakha’i has also said the same. And Ata said that the minimum duration of menstruation is one day and the maximum is fifteen days. Mu’tamir narrates from his father Sulaiman that he asked Ibn Sirin about a woman who, after five days of menstruation according to her habit, sees blood again, so he replied:“Women know more about this.”

Narrated `Aisha: Fatima bint Abi Hubaish asked the Prophet, "I got persistent bleeding (in between the periods) and do not become clean. Shall I give up prayers?" He replied, "No, this is from a blood vessel. Give up the prayers only for the days on which you usually get the menses and then take a bath and offer your prayers."