Menstrual bleeding is something normal and natural, which happens to women every month in most cases, lasting for a certain number of days each month, which a woman usually knows. That is in contrast to the bleeding of istihadah, which is bleeding that happens to a woman because of sickness or health problems. Hence it lasts longer than the usual duration of menses, and lasts longer than the maximum duration of menses. Some women continue to bleed without stopping. Any bleeding that lasts longer than menses is regarded as istihadah. In this hadith, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) tells us that Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), suffered from istihadah, and her istihadah lasted for seven years. She asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) how she should purify herself in order to be able to pray and do other acts of worship, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed her to do ghusl after the days of her original menses had passed. He explained to her that that was bleeding from a vein and not the usual bleeding of menses. Based on that, the ruling for the woman who is suffering from istihadah is that she should do ghusl after the days of her usual menses have passed, and she should not pay any attention to the bleeding that does not stop after the time of her usual menses has ended, because that is the bleeding of istihadah. So she should do wudu’ for each prayer, and put something [like a cloth or pad] to protect herself from the blood, as is mentioned in the reports narrated by Abu Dawud and others from Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh (may Allah be pleased with him). With regard to the words “she used to do ghusl for every prayer”, it was said that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) only instructed her to do ghusl following [the time of her normal] menses and resume prayer, and doing ghusl for every prayer was voluntary on her part. It was also said that what is by the phrase translated here as “do[ing] ghusl for every prayer” is simply washing off the blood that got onto her, because that comes under the heading of removing impurity (najasah), which is a condition of prayer being valid. And it was said that the ruling on doing ghusl that is mentioned in this hadith was abrogated by the hadith of Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh in which there is the command to do wudu’ for every prayer, not ghusl. The two hadiths may be reconciled by interpreting the instruction [to do ghusl] in the hadith of Umm Habibah as referring to something that was recommended (but not obligatory). In this hadith, we see that istihadah does not prevent a woman from praying or doing other acts of worship..