Short answer
In the Hanafi school, brown, yellow or murky discharge counts as your period when it comes within your possible period days, including at the start and end. Your period is over only when you see pure white or nothing. Brown discharge outside those days is not a period; it breaks wudu but you keep praying.
Six colours are hayd within the possible days: black, red, yellow, murky (kudra), green and earthy brown. Only pure white or complete dryness signals the end. Clear or white discharge is never hayd. Coloured discharge outside the hayd days is istihadah, which breaks wudu only.
Other madhhabs
- Hanbali
- Yellow and brown discharge count as menstruation only within the habit days; after the habit they are nothing.
Explanation
Many women see brown at the end of their period and are unsure whether to pray. In the Hanafi school, any colour except pure white is part of the period as long as it falls within the 10-day maximum. Aishah taught the women who sent her cotton with yellow on it not to rush until they saw the white discharge. The Shafi'i and Maliki schools agree that yellow and brown within the period days are menstruation.
Common cases:
- Brown on the last days of your period: still your period. Wait until it is pure white or dry, then make ghusl.
- Brown that keeps going past day 10: see period lasting more than 10 days.
- Brown before your period: see spotting before your period.
- Brown mid-cycle, less than 15 days after your last period ended: not a period. It breaks wudu, so make wudu and pray.
- Clear or white discharge: never a period. On the relied-upon Hanafi view, discharge from inside breaks wudu, but it never makes ghusl necessary.
A practical tip: check with a white tissue or pad, in good light, rather than guessing. The colour you judge is the colour at the time you see it. Umm Atiyyah's report that the women did not count yellow and murky discharge after purity is understood by the Hanafis as discharge after the 10 days or after a full clean period.
When it ends, see how to do ghusl.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:222
وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْمَحِيضِ ۖ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًۭى فَٱعْتَزِلُوا۟ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فِى ٱلْمَحِيضِ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَطْهُرْنَ ۖ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ ﴿٢٢٢﴾
And they ask you about menstruation. Say, "It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation. And do not approach them until they are pure. And when they have purified themselves, then come to them from where Allah has ordained for you. Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves."
Ties the rulings to the end of menstruation, which the scholars define by its signs.
Muwatta Malik 128
Graded in the Muwatta... لا تعجلن حتى ترين القصة البيضاء ...
"Do not hurry until you see the white discharge."
Aishah's teaching that coloured discharge is part of the period until pure white is seen.
Sahih al-Bukhari 326
Sahih... كنا لا نعد الكدرة والصفرة شيئا ...
"We did not count murky or yellow discharge as anything."
Umm Atiyyah's report, which the Hanafis apply to discharge after purity has been established.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on menstruation. The colours of hayd; only pure white is not.
- al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on menstruation. Kudra and earthy colours at the start and end of the period.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.