Question 1468: What is the ruling for a woman who has reached the age of 50 but still menstruates?
Answer
✅ Answer: Consider the following narrations:
1 عَنْ عَبْدالرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَجَّاجِ عَنْ أَبِی عَبْداللَّه قَالَ: حَدُّ الَّتِی قَدْ یَئِسَتْ مِنَ الْمَحِیضِ خَمْسُونَ سَنَةً
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 3, p. 107
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The limit for a woman to become menopausal from menstruation is 50 years!
2 عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِی عُمَیْرٍ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَبِی عَبْداللَّهِ قَالَ: إِذَا بَلَغَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ خَمْسِینَ سَنَةً لَمْ تَرَ حُمْرَةً إِلَّا أَنْ تَکُونَ امْرَأَةً مِنْ قُرَیْشٍ
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 3, p. 107
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: When a woman reaches 50 years, she does not see blood, except if she is from Quraysh!
3 عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِنَا قَالَ: قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْمَرْأَةُ الَّتِی قَدْ یَئِسَتْ مِنَ الْمَحِیضِ حَدُّهَا خَمْسُونَ سَنَةً
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 3, p. 107
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The limit for a woman who has become menopausal from menstruation is 50 years!
4 عَنْ عَبْدالرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَجَّاجِ قال: قَالَ أَبُو عَبْداللَّهِ ثَلَاثٌ یَتَزَوَّجْنَ عَلَی کُلِّ حَالٍ إِلَی أَنْ قَالَ وَ الَّتِی قَدْ یَئِسَتْ مِنَ الْمَحِیضِ وَ مِثْلُهَا لَا تَحِیضُ قُلْتُ وَ مَا حَدُّهَا قَالَ إِذَا کَانَ لَهَا خَمْسُونَ سَنَةً
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 85
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Three groups can marry at any time (without observing the waiting period)... and he continued until he said: and a woman who has become menopausal from menstruation, and a woman like her does not menstruate. I asked: What is the limit? He said: When she is 50 years old!
5 مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِیِّ بْنِ الْحُسَیْنِ قَالَ: قَالَ الصَّادِقُ الْمَرْأَةُ إِذَا بَلَغَتْ خَمْسِینَ سَنَةً لَمْ تَرَ حُمْرَةً إِلَّا أَنْ تَکُونَ امْرَأَةً مِنْ قُرَیْشٍ وَ هُوَ حَدُّ الْمَرْأَةِ الَّتِی تَیْأَسُ مِنَ الْحَیْض
📚 Al-Faqih, Vol. 1, p. 92
Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: When a woman reaches 50 years, she does not see blood, except if she is from Quraysh, and this is the limit for a woman who becomes menopausal from menstruation!
6 عن عبدالرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَجَّاجِ قال سَمِعْتُ أَبَاعبداللَّه يَقُولُ ثَلَاثٌ يَتَزَوَّجْنَ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ الَّتِي يَئِسَتْ مِنَ الْمَحِيضِ وَ مِثْلُهَا لَا تَحِيضُ قُلْتُ و مَتَى تَكُونُ كَذَلِكَ قَالَ إِذَا بَلَغَتْ سِتِّينَ سَنَةً فَقَدْ يَئِسَتْ مِنَ الْمَحِيضِ وَ مِثْلُهَا لَا تَحِيضُ...
📚 Tahdhib, Vol. 7, p. 469
Abdul Rahman ibn Hajjaj says: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: Three groups can marry at any time (without observing the waiting period): a woman who has become menopausal from menstruation, and a woman like her does not menstruate. I asked: When is this the case? He said: When she reaches 60 years, she is definitely menopausal and does not menstruate...
7 مُحَمَّد بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْن النُّعْمَانِ الْمُفِید فی الْمُقْنِعَةِ قال قَدْ رُوِیَ أَنَّ الْقُرَشِیَّةَ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ و النَّبَطِیَّةَ تَرَیَانِ الدَّمَ إِلَی سِتِّینَ سَنَةً
📚 Al-Muqni’ah, p. 82
Sheikh Mufid in the book Al-Muqni’ah says: It is narrated that Qurayshi and Nabataean women see blood until 60 years!
✅ Quraysh is one of the Arab tribes whose ancestor is Nadr ibn Kinana, and anyone descended from Nadr ibn Kinana is considered Qurayshi. Since Nadr ibn Kinana is one of the ancestors of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), their identifiable descendants today are the Sayyids. However, there are other tribes considered part of Quraysh, many of which are unidentified today.
The Nabataeans were also a group of Arabs who integrated into Persian and Roman societies, and their lineages became mixed.
✅ Based on the above narrations and others, when a woman reaches 50 lunar years, which is approximately 48 years and 6 months solar years, she is considered menopausal, and usually, her menstruation ceases from this point, and some of her rulings change.
However, if a woman is from the Quraysh or Nabataean tribes, she may see menstrual blood until 60 years, and after 60 years, she is considered menopausal.
Women who menstruate after 50 lunar years and know they are Qurayshi or Nabataean have the rulings of a menstruating woman until 60 lunar years.
But if a woman continues to menstruate like a menstruating woman after 50 lunar years and does not know whether she is Qurayshi or Nabataean, due to the uncertainty of her status, she exercises caution. During menstruation, she refrains from prayer, fasting, intercourse, and other prohibitions of a menstruating woman, but she makes up for prayer and fasting during her days of purity. In the case of divorce or the end of a temporary marriage, she observes the waiting period for the next marriage, as she might be non-Qurayshi or non-Nabataean and considered menopausal, or she might be Qurayshi or Nabataean without knowing it and not be menopausal.
However, after 60 lunar years, she is considered menopausal in all cases and has the rulings of a menopausal woman.