Prayer and Fasting with Irregular Menstrual Periods
As-Salamu `alayku m. I am middle aged and approaching menopause. My periods are very irregular in every way— when they come, how long they last, how heavy the flow is, the color of the blood.Sometimes, I start to have bleeding and it appears to be menstrual (brown or pink) so I stop praying (and fasting in Ramadan). Then nothing more comes. A few times when this happened, it was 48 hours before more blood appeared. So last month when some blood appeared, I waited 48 hours before I made ghusl and prayed again, though nothing had come out during that time. Then again on the first day of Ramadan, at Zhuhr time it looked like I was starting a period so I broke my fast and didn’t pray. I also didn’t fast the second day, thinking that I had started a period and more would come, but there was nothing. I didn’t want to wait 48 hours again, so I made ghusl and prayed `Isha’.The things I have read on fiqh don’t seem to quite answer my questions: How long should I wait before I start to pray (and fast) again when I have some menstrual-looking bleeding (if nothing more appears)? Do I have to make up the missed prayers when I wait to see if I’m “really” having a period?