1. Uncertainty of days of haidh or isitihādhah 2. Is it permissible to use the smartphone app called “Pact”?

 First of all I would like to ask a question about istiadah.. If a woman has non menstural bleeding which is very irregular and not predictable.she cannot distinguish between her periods and non menstural blood.. Sometimes it’s just spotting through out the month, in between 2 to 3 days light flow.. Sometimes it stops suddenly for a day and then the next day it’s heavy bleeding… There is no predictable pattern whatsoever..and as it is some years now she doesn’t remember her last regular period dates…Which she is experiencing for several years now..even though she did taking medication, there was not much difference. And now she is doing hijamah for the same. So what should she do in regards to prayer. When should she stop praying? And she is using menstural cup which is used to collect blood and it is inserted inside and no blood or najas comes outside…after 8-10 hours menstural cup is removed, emptied, washed and re-inserted. It is unlike sanitary pads.. And it is the healthiest option..and nothing comes outside..so outside you’re perfectly clean..so should she remove it and clean it before every salah. And should she do wudhu before every salah? My second question is regarding an application on mobile phone which is called pact .

It is basically an application which motivates and helps you to excercise regularly , stay healthy and log your daily food. We have a choice to decide how many days we want to excercise, how many fruits and vegetables we have to eat daily and how many days we will track our food intake and we can make a commitment for a week to achieving those fitness goals with the app. And if you keep your goals.

The pact rewards you an average of .10 cents per activity…so depending upon your activities you may earn 1-6 dollars a week. And if you couldn’t achieve your goals they deduct for each missed activity which is really motivating to workout and eat healthy as you don’t want to lose money. But the app allows you to let them know if you had a problem or s medical condition which didn’t allow you to achieve your goals.. So they don’t charge such cases. Is it permissible to use this app? جزاك الله خيرا

In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

At the outset, it may be beneficial to properly understand the general terms and rules pertaining to the laws of haidh (menstrual period).

The minimum period of haidh (menstrual period) is three days. Any bleeding lasting for less than three days will be istihādhah (non-menstrual bleeding). The maximum menstrual period is ten complete days. Any bleeding over and above ten days will be regarded as istihādhah. As such, haidh will be from day 3 to day 10, and anything beyond day 10 will be regarded as istihādhah. The minimum time between two haidh duration is fifteen complete days which is regarded as non-menstrual period even though there is bleeding.[1]

Therefore, if one sees blood before the days of her normal cycle of haidh or beyond the normal cycle, such days will be considered as istihādhah.

Furthermore, istihādhah nullifies wudhū. During istihādhah, a woman will perform wudhū for every salāh time and perform her salāh and observe fasts as well.

In the enquired situation, we advise that the woman in reference should try to determine the days of her menstrual period of the past, especially in which part of the month she would normally get her menses. She will regard those days as her menses and the remaining days as istihādhah.[2] Thereafter, she may adhere to the above mentioned general guidelines.

 (2) Pact is a smartphone application that assists its users to meet their fitness goals by ensuring that they complete their exercises and workouts along with a two-fold commitment. If the user successfully accomplishes a certain “pact” (goal), he/she will be given a monetary reward. On the other hand, if the user fails to meet his/her goal, a monetary fine will be deducted from his/her account. For example, a user must set a goal in advance to accomplish (gym visits, etc.) for the upcoming week and agree to a fine of their choice ($5-$50, the default is $5) for every number of goals they fail to complete. At the end of the week, those that succeed in carrying out their “pact” will receive a certain amount of money ranging from approximately 30 cents to $5 per week as a reward for their commitment of days and completion of fitness goals. This set of money is from the pool of money from those users who failed to accomplish their “pact”. Furthermore, the user may withdraw his/her monetary reward once they have earned $10. [3]

The structure of the smartphone application “Pact” contains elements of qimār (gambling) which is prohibited in Sharī‘ah.[4] Qimār is an act in which there lies a possibility for each of the parties to gain or lose.[5]

Therefore, it is impermissible to use this specific smartphone application.

And Allah Ta‘āla Knows Best

Fahad Abdul Wahab

Student Darul Iftaa

New York, USA

Checked and Approved by,

Mufti Ebrahim Desai                                                                                                                                                                                                               

www.Daruliftaa.net