Qalīla is the lightest of three istihada tiers per A. Sistani and Khamenei. Blood is present but does not soak through the absorbent material.
Requirements (A. Sistani 392)
- One wudu per prayer.
- Wash the external area if blood is present.
- Recommended precaution: change the absorbent pad before each prayer.
Note
A. Makarem Shirazi recognises only two tiers (Qalīla and Kathīra), so the cases that A. Sistani / A. Khamenei would call Mutawassiṭa fall under Kathīra in A. Makarim’s scheme. The Tuhr app applies the right tier classification automatically per the user’s marja.
Primary sources
- A. Sistani · 392 Slight istihada (qalīla). One wudu per prayer
For slight istiḥāḍah, a woman must perform one wuḍūʾ for every prayer and she must wash the outside of the vagina with water if there is blood there. And based on recommended precaution, she should purify the piece of cotton [or sanitary pad/ another absorbent item] with water or change it for every prayer.
- A. Makarem Shirazi · ISSUE 185–186 Two-tier istihada. Qalīla and kathīra only
For A. Makarem Shirazi, istihada has only two categories: Qalīla and Kathīra. The category A. Sistani and A. Khamenei call Mutawassiṭa is folded into Kathīra here, with the same three-ghusl cadence (Fajr alone, Zuhr+Asr combined, Maghrib+Isha combined).