Miscarrying during the first four months without having realized one was pregnant

Q: A woman, who was in the fourth month of pregnancy, was breast feeding her child and did not know that she was pregnant. She experienced bleeding and went to the hospital where she was told that she was pregnant (Part No. 4; Page No. 265) and she would soon have a miscarriage. After she was examined, they found that what was inside her was not a baby but just an empty placenta, and they performed a cleaning operation. Is this considered postpartum blood?Note: The doctors said that the fetus might have died during the first or second month. She took an antibiotic without knowing that she was pregnant, which caused the miscarriage.

A: If the reality is as mentioned in the question, the woman concerned does not fall under the rulings of postpartum period. Rather, she is considered a woman having Istihadah (abnormal vaginal bleeding outside the menstrual or post-partum period). She can offer Salah (Prayer), observe Sawm (Fast), and her husband can have sexual intercourse with her. But she has to perform Wudu' at the time of every Salah and place a piece of cotton or something like it to protect herself from leakage. She is not required to do anything with regard to the dead embryo, because it was not yet formed. She has to stop Salah and Sawm during the usual days of her menstruation. She has to make up for any obligatory Salah or Sawm that she left due to this abnormal bleeding outside the menstrual period.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.