Some scholars mention a number of days for the minimum duration of a woman's period and they also quote a figure to indicate the maximum days of such a period. There is no Hadith to indicate a minimum span of time when a woman is in menstruation. What we can say is that the minimum is a single flow. Nor is there a maximum period for menstruation. We do not have any reliable report to estimate its duration.

I say this knowing that some scholars mention one full day, i.e. twenty-four hours, for the minimum period of menstruation and ten or fifteen days for its maximum. None of these figures relies on a specific and authentic Hadith. Menses is recognized by its color. The Prophet is quoted to have said: "The blood of menses is dark, easily recognized." During a woman's period, her discharge may have different colors, ranging from almost black, to red, to yellow or a dark color between white and black. Normally, a woman can distinguish whether her discharge is menses or not.

Some women may have a prolonged discharge, but that does not mean that they have a prolonged menstruation. If a woman has such a prolonged discharge, then she has to distinguish between her menses and a discharge that does not stop her from offering prayers or fasting. There are three situations:

i) A woman with a regular period. This is the case of a woman who used to have her menstruation lasting for six, seven or eight days on a regular basis. If she happens to have prolonged discharges afterward, then she should take count of her normal period, then she takes a bath and begins prayer. This is understood from a Hadith when, Umm Salamah, one of the Prophet's wives, asked him about a woman who was having a continuous discharge. He said: "Let her consider the number of days and nights for which she used to have her period every month. She need not pray during those days. Afterward, she should take a bath, use a piece of cloth or cotton, and offer her prayers." (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others). This Hadith applies to a woman who used to have a regular period before she developed this disorder.

ii) A woman who does not have a regular period and cannot distinguish her menses from ordinary bleeding. The Prophet's sister-in-law, a young woman, had this trouble when she had just attained puberty. She told the Prophet that her discharge had prevented her from praying and fasting. The Prophet said to her: "I suggest that you use cotton because it absorbs blood." She told him that her discharge was too strong for that. He suggested that she should tie herself properly, but she again said that her discharge was too strong. He said to her: "I will describe to you two courses of action and you may choose either of them." He then explained her condition and told her: "You count your period six or seven days, as God knows, then have a bath until you feel that you have purified and cleansed yourself. You offer your prayers for twenty-four or twenty-three days and nights, and fast as usual. Your action is sufficient for that. You may repeat this every month as other women have their normal periods and cleanse themselves in accordance with their regular time of menses and cleanliness. Alternatively, you may choose to delay offering Dhuhr prayer and bring Asr prayer forward: You have a shower then pray Dhuhr and Asr together; then you delay Maghrib and bring Isha forward and combine the two prayers together. Then you have another shower for Fajr prayer and offer it. You may do like this and fast and pray if you can." The Prophet then added: "This last course is the one I would prefer." (Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawood and At-Tirmithi). Al-Bukhari commented that this is an authentic Hadith.

It is correct that it is forbidden to face a grave during a prayer. It is also not permissible to build a mosque at the place of a grave or at the graveyard. I have dealt with this question more than once.

However, at the Prophet's Mosque, no one faces his grave, because his grave is not raised over the ground. Besides, there is a wall built around it, to separate it from a portion of the mosque. The wall serves as a separating area, which does not allow the grave to be in view of the worshipers. Moreover, we should not imagine the Prophet's grave as a tomb or something built high over the ground, or that cement or bricks or any other building material is used with its construction. The whole thing is made according to the Sunnah which recommends that grave is only slightly higher than the ground. With the passage of the years, the Prophet's grave and those of his two companions, Abu Bakr and Umar have become level with the ground and no one is allowed inside the built-up area around. There are specific instructions in Islam against giving graves any sort of association with worship in order not to allow any habit or practices of other religions, which give the dead a saintly position, to creep into our faith.

No dead person could be of any benefit to a living one. That is the Islamic view.