What is the ruling regarding menstruation after the age of fifty for a woman?
Chapter on Menstruation
Al-Mughni
Book of Purification
Primary text
There is variation in the narration from Ahmad regarding this matter. One narration transmitted by Al-Kharqi states that a woman does not despair of menstruation until the age of sixty. Blood seen between fifty and sixty is doubtful; she should not cease prayer or fasting because their obligation is certain and not negated by doubt. She should make up obligatory fasts as a precaution because their obligation was certain, and the validity of fasts performed during the doubtful bleeding time is uncertain. Another narration suggests that after fifty, she does not menstruate. Ishaq ibn Rahwayh agrees that menstruation does not occur after fifty, and her ruling becomes that of a Mustahadah, based on narrations from 'A'ishah stating that after fifty, a woman exits the range of menstruation. Ahmad himself stated that if an Arab woman sees blood after fifty and it recurs two or three times, it is considered menses, based on actual occurrence, as there are recorded instances of women menstruating after fifty.
Supporting text
A view exists that women of non-Arab background cease menstruation at fifty, while Arab women, including the Banu Hashim, cease at sixty, based on lineage records. However, the sound position is that there is no distinction between Arab and non-Arab women, as they do not differ in other rulings of menses. The narrations from 'A'ishah are refuted by the factual observation that menstruation and conception have occurred after fifty, rendering the denial of its possibility as mere conjecture against established fact. After sixty, the issue is resolved; the blood is certainly not menses, as it is established that women eventually reach menopause according to Quran 65:4.