Question: When my menses are about to end I get this discharge that is white on my hands but when I put it on something white it looks yellow. Does that mean my menses have ended? Should I make ghusl or wait? Is it pure and does it break wudu if I get it on normal days?
Answer:
Assalāmu ‘alaykum Dear Sister in Faith,
The maximum duration of menses in the Hanafi School is ten days. Thus, any discolored discharge that is seen within that duration is to be considered menstrual flow [Quduri].
Leukorrhea, more commonly know as vaginal discharge, is the substance you are seeing at the end of your menses. It is whitish but also turns yellowish when exposed to air. So long as the color is not clearly distinct from that of your normal daily discharge (on pure days), then it’s not considered part of your menstrual flow. This would be the sign that you should perform ghusl.
To determine the actual color of the discharge (before oxidation), a woman should place a small piece of cloth or toilet paper (kursuf) at the opening of the vagina. She should not insert it, but rather allow it to be held by the labial lips [Birgivi, Dhukhr al Muta’ahilin].
The female companions used to send these pieces of cloth to our Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to determine the end of their menses, much the way you are inquiring now. She instructed them that a woman must not hasten to perform ghusl until she sees whiteness (Bukhari, Book of Menstruation).
The regular whitish discharge that a woman experiences on a daily basis is pure in accordance with the sounder view in the Hanafi School [Tahtawi, Hashiya on Maraqi al Falah].
It is not necessary to remove it from one’s clothing before prayer. Its release would not necessitate ghusl nor wudu.
Our worship to Allah is an offering we make to Him, in hopes it is accepted and raised to the Heavens. Practicing the rulings associated with purity, even those related to menses, is part of that worship and should be followed with that purpose in mind. Then, it will be a cause for gaining nearness to Him.
Allah did not legislate anything to place a hardship on us.
“He laid upon you no hardship in the Religion” (Quran 22:78).
And Allah, Most High, knows best.
[Ustahda] Iman Badawi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani