Praise be to Allaah.
The different opinions that our sister has heard are the
result of scholarly differences on this matter. The correct scholarly view
is that if a woman miscarries a foetus that was fully formed, then she
should stop praying and fasting because this is nifaas. If it was not fully
formed then her blood is irregular bleeding and she should not stop praying
and fasting. The minimum time in which the foetus becomes fully formed is
eighty-one days (from conception).
The scholars of the Standing Committee said:
If the foetus was fully formed, in the sense that its limbs
(hands and feet) and head had appeared, it is haraam to have intercourse
with the woman so long as she is still bleeding, for up to forty days. It is
permissible to have intercourse with her at times when the bleeding stops
within forty days, after she does ghusl. But if the limbs had not yet
appeared in the embryo, then it is permissible to have intercourse with her
even if that is immediately after the miscarriage, because that is not
regarded as nifaas, rather it is irregular bleeding and she can pray and
fast in that case.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
5/422, 423.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz said:
If a woman miscarries something in which human features such
as a head, arm or leg etc can be distinguished, then the rulings of nifaas
apply and she should not pray or fast, and it is not permissible for her
husband to have intercourse with her until she becomes pure or until forty
days have passed. If she becomes pure before forty days have passed, then
she has to do ghusl and pray and fast in Ramadaan, and it is permissible for
her husband to have intercourse with her.
But if no human features can be distinguished in what is
passed by the woman, and it looks like flesh with no distinguishable
features, or it is blood, then she comes under the ruling of one who is
suffering from istihaadah (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding), not the rulings
on nifaas or menstruation. So she has to pray and fast in Ramadaan, and she
is permissible for her husband… because this comes under the rulings on
istihaadah according to the scholars.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 1/243.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:
The scholars said: If what is passed has clear human
features, then her bleeding after that is regarded as nifaas, so she should
stop praying and fasting, and her husband should avoid her until she becomes
pure. If what comes out is unformed, then it is not regarded as the blood of
nifaas, rather it is irregular bleeding which does not prevent her from
praying or fasting, etc.
The scholars said: The earliest time at which distinguishable
features may appear is eighty-one days.
Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah,
1/304, 305.
And Allaah knows
best.