Islamic marriage advice and family advice

What happens to a woman in her 40 days after giving birth?

Giggling baby

Asalamualaykum,

I wanted to know about what happens to a woman once she has given birth; I know she can bleed to a maximum of 40 days.

I have also heard that the grave opens and closes for that woman in those 40 days, is this true?

Can someone shed some light on this please?

Jazak Allah.

Mrs Yousuf G.


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9 Responses »

  1. for d grave i dont know as for the bleeding is up to 60 days.may Allah guide us all.

  2. Salaam Mrs Yousuf G,

    What happens for the next 40 miliseconds or lesser than that is not in our knowledge or control, how can we know what can happen to us in next 40 days?

    As far as post delivery phase is concerned and its mental and physical aspects from medical point of view are concerned you should get in touch with a good gynaecologist.

    As far as opening and closing of grave are concerned, NO, only Allah knows which grave will be dug when and for whom.

    Subhaan Allah ! Mrs Yousuf G, this ayaat which I quote fits exactly your question and encompasses both question of pregnancy and death side by side as if it was meant for this question, Subhaan Allah.

    Allah reveals in Surah 31, Luqmaan, Ayat 34:

    إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَيُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْأَرْحَامِ وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَّاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

    Inna Allaha AAindahu AAilmu alssaAAatiwayunazzilu alghaytha wayaAAlamu ma fee al-arhamiwama tadree nafsun matha taksibu ghadan wamatadree nafsun bi-ayyi ardin tamootu inna AllahaAAaleemun khabeer

    34. Verily Allah! With Him is knowledge of The Hour. He sendeth down the rain, and knoweth that which is in the wombs. No nafs knoweth what it will earn tomorrow, and no nafs knoweth in what land it will die. Allah is Knower, Aware.

    I hope this helps subside the curiosity on the grave part of your question.

    Salaam,
    Munib.

  3. Wa alaikum assalaam,

    What happens? Nothing.

    What is supposed to happen to her? She is in post natal bleeding, excused (actually forbidden) from doing Salah, until she is clean and other than that, islamically we have not been given any more information on what else is happening.

    What you have mentioned regarding graves opening etc, it is not found in the Quran or Sahih (or even dhaeef/weak) ahadith. So clearly it is not from Allah or His Rasool and whoever is coming up with such lies is misguided and making lies against the deen.

    A word of advice for you sister, whenever someone tells you something regarding the Deen, see if it truly links back to Allah, Rasooallah, the Sahaba or at least the fatwa of a credible scholar. A lot of strange and unreal stories are narrated and many of them are beleived without people even confirming if indeed it is authentic.

    Was salaam

  4. Sister,

    I have read nothing to do with the grave opening and closing during the 40 post natal days.

    However, biologically, a woman's body and mind needs time to recover and regain strength from the 9 months of pregnancy and the from the extreme stresses of the labour and child birth. Hence it is encouraged for women to take alot of rest and eat strength giving foods. During this time while the woman is bleeding, she is forbidden from praying Salaah. This to me appears to be a blessing from Allah because after childbirth most women suffer from lack of sleep and are extremely worn out with the newborn crying, needing feeding, waking at nights, changing nappies etc. Allah makes the new mother's life easier by giving her one less thing to do with no Salaah for a while. That is my opinion.

    Some cultures prohibit women from leaving the home during this time - this is not from Islam, instead it is a cultural deviation.

    SisterZ
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  5. AA;

    Are you asking from a physical point view? religion point of view? emotional point of view?

    Inshallah it will help us help you if we know what are you asking for 🙂

    May ALLAH bless you and your family and guide you to the best path.

    AA

  6. Nifaas is the name for the blood that flows from the uterus after childbirth, regardless of whether the child survived or not (taken from Fiqh as-Sunnah, v.1, p.70). It was given this name because it is likened to the “breathing” of the womb or because a “nafs” has exited from it.

    If a woman gives birth but does not see any blood; The ruling of nifaas then does not apply to her, there is no obligatory bath due upon her, and it does not break her fasting.

    In al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (41/15) it says: If the birth was free of blood or there was no bleeding, such as if the infant came out dry, then she is pure (taahir) and there is no nifaas for her, because nifaas is blood, and there is no blood in this case. End quote.

    The scholars differed as to whether ghusl is obligatory in this case.

    It was said that she does not have to do ghusl, because Islam only requires it of women who are in nifaas, and in this case the woman is not in nifaas in any way.

    This is the view of the Maalikis and Hanbalis.

    See: al-Mughni, 1/429; al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 14/51

    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) favoured this view, and said: If a woman gives birth and does not see any blood, which is very rare, in this case she should not refrain (from prayer and so on) for the period of nifaas. If she gives birth at sunrise and the time for Zuhr begins and she did not see any blood, then she does not have to do ghusl; rather she should do wudoo’ and pray. End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti‘, 1/281

    if one sees the signs The blood and amniotic fluid which accompanies labor of childbirth; signaling the onset of childbirth birth is not considered nifaas, but rather Istiha adah.

    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Three days before giving birth some water came out of her accompanied by a little pain. Is that nifaas?

    He replied: This is not nifaas, because nifaas is blood and not water. Moreover, if it was nifaas it would be accompanied by labour pains two or three days before giving birth. But if this occurs a long time before giving birth, then it is not nifaas, because nifaas is the blood that comes out at the time of birth or two or three days before it, accompanied by labour pains. As for water, that is not nifaas. End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb.

    The blood that flows during childbirth; This is nifaas, even if the baby has not fully come out, or has only come out partially. It is not obligatory to make up the missed prayers during that time.

    The time of when childbirth begins; One should start to count the days as soon as the baby comes
    out completely from the womb of the mother. If she gives birth to twins, then nifaas begins when the first child is delivered.

    The longest and shortest duration for nifaas; Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid said,There is a dispute amongst the religious scholars regarding the longest period of nifaas (the post-natal bleeding period). Some scholars say it is forty (40) days, others say it is sixty (60) days and some say there is no limit to the maximum number of days a woman can be a in a state of nifaas. The most predominate opinion is that the maximum period is forty (40) days according to what is narrated by Umm Salama. Umm Salama said "The nufasaa' (a woman in a state of birth blood discharge) used to continue to be in childbed for forty days at the time of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him."

    Al-Tirmidhi reported: "It is unanimously agreed upon among religious scholars from the sahaabah (companions of the Prophet , peace and blessings be upon him) and al-taabi'oon (those who had met only a companion of the Prophet , but not the Prophet himself) that the nufasaa' does not pray for forty days unless she sees tuhr (blood stoppage) before the end of the forty days period. She should then perform ghusl (ablution of the whole body) and she resumes praying. The majority of the religious scholars say that a woman does pray even If she continues to notice blood after the forty days period expires and this is the opinion of the majority of fuqahaa' (religious scholars) among whom Sufian Al-Thawry, Ibn Al-Mubarak, Al-Shafi'i, Ahmad and Ishaaq." Sunan Al-Tirmidhi hadeeth # 139.

    The same hadeeth is also reported by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah and Al-Daraami and is classified as hasan by Al-Albaani in Irwaa' Al-Ghaleel # 201. Al-Albaani has supported this narration by another hadeeth reported by Abu Dawood narrated by Umm Salama who said, "A Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) wife used to remain in (a state of) nifaas for forty nights and the Prophet would not ask her to make up the prayers she missed during the period of nifaas".

    Ibn Majah also reported that Anas, may Allaah be pleased with him, narrated that "The Prophet had specified a period of forty days for the nufasaa' unless she achieves tuhr before that." Irwaa' Al Ghaleel # 223-222/1.

    Therefore, if a woman experiencing post-childbirth bleeding spent forty days and she still sees blood, then we consider this blood as istihaadha (womb bleeding between periods) which does not stop a woman from performing prayer (salaat) nor fasting (siyaam), unless the end of the forty days coincides with the regular menstrual period (dawrah); in this case she would consider this blood as menstrual blood.

    (Islam Q&A Fatwa: 319)

    In regards to nifaas ending before the forty days, Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid said, If a woman who is in nifaas (i.e., bleeding following childbirth) sees al-tuhr (end of bleeding) before forty days had passed, she should do ghusl and pray and fast. The tuhr – following menstruation or nifaas – is recognised by one of two signs:

    1. White discharge

    2. Complete dryness, in the sense that there is no trace of blood, or yellowish or brownish discharge.

    Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The sign that menses has ended and tuhr (purity) has begun is the cessation of bleeding and of yellowish and brownish discharge. If it stops, then the woman has become pure, regardless of whether any white discharge comes after that or not.

    End quote from al-Majmoo‘, 2/562

    If in the case asked about the bleeding had stopped, and there was no longer any trace of it or any yellowish or brownish discharge, that this was the sign of tuhr (i.e., she had become pure), and her fast is valid in that case, and it does not matter if there was any white discharge, because that is normal secretion from the vagina.

    If the the bleeding stops before 40 days end and returns agian; If the blood stops before the completion of forty days, she is consideredpure,andsheshouldbatheandpray.If the flow of blood returns before the completion of forty days, she should again stop praying and consider it as nifaas, [until she becomes pure again]. She continues in this manner until she completes her forty days.

    Shaykh Ibn Baaz said, If a woman’s nifaas stops before the forty days (after the birth) are over, she has to do ghusl and pray and fast Ramadaan, and it is permissible for her husband to have intercourse with her. If the bleeding resumes within the forty days (after the birth), then she has to stop praying and fasting, and it is forbidden for her husband to have intercourse with her, according to the more correct of the two scholarly views. She comes under the rulings on women in nifaas until either the nifaas stops or the forty days are over. If her nifaas stops before or on the fortieth day (after the birth), then she should do ghusl and start praying and fasting, and it is permissible for her husband to have intercourse with her. If the bleeding continues after the fortieth day (after the birth), then this is irregular bleeding and she should not stop praying and fasting because of it, rather she should pray and fast during Ramadaan, and it is permissible for her husband to have intercourse with her – as is the case with a woman with istihaadah (irregular, non-menstrual bleeding). She has to wash herself with water every time she uses the toilet, and use cotton pads etc. to absorb the bleeding, and she has to do wudoo’ for each and every prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told women with istihaadah to do these things. But when her period comes, she should stop praying and fasting, and it is haraam for her husband to have intercourse with her until her period is over. And Allaah is the source of strength. End of quote, reference: (Islam Q&A fatwa: 7417)

    Tip: If this is your first child,record your number of days of nifaas because you will need it for your next child,if you exceed 40 days you'll have to know how many days to make qadha for,according to your last nifaas(as is the case of haidh) . May Allah Ta'aala grant you a healthy,pious baby who is the coolness of your eyes,is successfull in this world and the next and will be a flagbearer of Imaan. Aamin!
    Eat Kajoor when you go into labour,it makes it easier.

    As for the grave story... Never heard of it before!

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