Number & Place

When calculating habit in menstruation (hayd) and purity (tuhr), a woman looks at both the number of days of bleeding (‘adad) as well as the number of days of purity (zaman). Both are equally important in determining whether a woman’s bleeding is hayd.

The Fiqh of It

‘Adad refers to the most recent number of days of valid blood (hayd) and valid purity (tuhr sahih)*. For example, Ayesha’s hayd was from September 1-5. Her following hayd was from October 1-5. Her ‘adad is 5 days for hayd and 25 days for tuhr.  (Manhal al-Waridin pp.180-4)

Let’s look at another example: Ayesha’s habit is 7 days for hayd preceded by 23 for tuhr. Her hayd remains 7 days, but increases from 23 to 27 days for tuhr. This changes when her hayd is due by a forward shift of 4 days.

*A valid purity (tuhr sahih) is a purity that is 15 days or more, is not mixed with any bleeding in the beginning, middle or end and is preceded and followed by hayd.