Short answer
As soon as the bleeding has fully stopped, meaning you see pure white discharge or a clean, dry pad, do ghusl in time to pray the current prayer. In the Hanafi school, if your period stops before 10 days with enough time left for ghusl and the opening takbir, that prayer is owed. Do not wait for a set number of days.
When bleeding stops before 10 days, ghusl becomes due; if enough time remains in the prayer time for ghusl and the opening takbir, that prayer is fard and must be prayed or made up. If it stops at the full 10 days, the period is over even before ghusl, and the prayer is owed if time remains for the takbir alone. If it stops before her usual number of days, she does ghusl and prays, but intercourse waits until her usual days pass.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ told a woman to leave the prayer when her period came, and when it went, to wash off the blood, do ghusl and pray. The sign that it has gone is pure white discharge or complete dryness, not a fixed number of days. Brown or yellow at the end is still part of the period. See brown discharge.
Common cases:
- Stops on day 6 (or any day before 10): do ghusl and pray from the current prayer. You may take ghusl on the 6th day; there is no need to wait.
- Stops in the last minutes of a prayer time: if there was time for ghusl and "Allahu Akbar", that prayer is owed; make it up if it passed.
- Stops before your usual days: pray and fast, but avoid intercourse until your normal days have passed, since the blood may return.
- Blood comes back within 10 days: the clean days in between count as part of the period. Fasts kept on them are made up; the prayers you prayed were not owed, so nothing is lost.
- Stops after Fajr in Ramadan: you cannot count that day as a fast, but you behave as a fasting person for the rest of it and make it up.
Delaying ghusl until a prayer time passes is a sin. If you cannot use water because of illness, see tayammum. For the steps, see how to do ghusl, and for braids, undoing braids for ghusl.
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."
Purification after the period is by ghusl.
Sahih Muslim 333
Sahih... فإذا أقبلت الحيضة فدعي الصلاة وإذا أدبرت فاغسلي عنك الدم وصلي ...
"When your period comes, leave the prayer; and when it goes, wash the blood from yourself and pray."
Prayer resumes as soon as the period ends.
Sahih al-Bukhari 325
Sahih... دعي الصلاة قدر الأيام التي كنت تحيضين فيها ثم اغتسلي وصلي ...
"Leave the prayer for the number of days you used to menstruate, then do ghusl and pray."
Ghusl follows the end of the period, and prayer begins straight after.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on menstruation (Bab al-Hayd). If bleeding stops before ten days, intercourse waits until she bathes or a full prayer time passes; at ten days it is allowed before ghusl.
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Chapter on menstruation, postnatal bleeding and istihadah. The prayer is owed if bleeding stops with enough time for ghusl and the opening takbir.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. 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.