What is the ruling if a woman with a sequenced varied menstrual pattern forgets which position in the sequence she is currently experiencing?
Chapter on Menstruation
Al-Mughni
Book of Purification
Primary text
If she forgets her specific position in the sequence, she must observe the duration recognized as the minimum for menstruation (al-Yaqin), which is three days. After this period, she performs ghusl (ritual washing) and resumes prayer for the remainder of the month.
Supporting text
A dissenting view suggests that if she knows her current cycle is not the first, but is uncertain if it is the second or the third, she should observe four days as the minimum certainty (al-Yaqin). Subsequently, she observes three days for the subsequent two months, then four days in the fourth month, continuing this pattern. Furthermore, there is an opinion stating that only one ghusl suffices after the period she sat out, as any excess beyond the minimum is doubtful, and ritual impurity obligation is not established by doubt. However, the stronger opinion mandates an additional ghusl after the fifth day each month, because the certainty of a longer period of impurity exists, and the validity of her prayer depends on purification, necessitating adherence to certainty, similar to one who forgets a specific obligatory prayer of a day.