Religion & Belief (Alor Pothay) > Islam
Divorce
Badshah Mamun:
IDDAH AFTER DIVORCE
Question :
Is the term `Iddah applicable to the widow and the divorcee? What is the need of `Iddah and for how long should this "waiting period" be? If a wife asks her husband for a khula and he accepts, how long is the waiting period? Can she remarry with same person? Where to spend Iddah period?
Answer:
Name of Counsellor : A Group of Islamic Researchers
Iddah or a woman's post marital waiting period, is the period in which a woman waits before she may remarry to verify that she is not pregnant, or out of mourning for her deceased husband. (See: Ahmad ibn Naqeeb Al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveler)
Wisdom of Its Legitimacy:
1- To discern whether the woman is pregnant or not.
2- Shari`ah has ordained the period of `Iddah to avoid any confusion of lineage which may result from the woman's pressing need of marriage.
3- The period a woman spends in `Iddah whether short or otherwise sheds light on the seriousness of marriage and how far it is a sacred bond.
4- It allows the man and the woman to think twice before breaking up the family tie, especially in cases where divorce is revocable. (Source: The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh)
Rulings Pertaining To `Iddah:
As for the widowed woman whom husband dies while leaving her pregnant, her waiting period ends with the delivery of her baby. Allah Almighty says, "...And for those with child, their period shall be till they bring forth their burden�" (At-Talaq 65:4)
However, if the widowed woman is not pregnant, her waiting period ends after completing four months and ten days. Allah Almighty says, " Such of you as die and leave behind them wives, they (the wives) shall wait, keeping themselves apart, four months and ten days�" (Al-Baqarah 2: 234)
As for a divorced woman, her waiting period ends when three intervals between menstruations have finished, if she is not pregnant. Allah Almighty says: "Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart, three (monthly) courses. And it is not lawful for them that they should conceal that which Allah hath created in their wombs if they are believers in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands would do better to take them back in that case if they desire reconciliation. And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness, and men are a degree above them. Allah is Mighty, Wise." (Al-Baqarah 2:228)
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.islamonline.net
Khula `Iddah:
If the woman who has been divorced by khula, is pregnant then her �iddah lasts until she gives birth, according to scholarly consensus. Al-Mughni, 11/227.
But if she is not pregnant, the scholars differed concerning her �iddah. Most of the scholars said that she should wait for three menstrual cycles, because of the general meaning of the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
�And divorced women shall wait (as regards their marriage) for three menstrual periods �.� (Al-Baqarah 2:228)
But the correct view is that it is sufficient for a woman divorced by khula� to wait for one menstrual cycle, because the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told the wife of Thaabit ibn Qays, when she divorced him by khula�, to wait out the �iddah for one menstrual cycle. (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1185; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 946). This hadeeth refers specifically to khula� divorce whereas the aayah quoted above speaks of divorce in general. But if she waits out an �iddah of three menstrual cycles that will be more complete and will be on the safe side, and will avoid an area of scholarly dispute, as some scholars say that she should wait for three menstrual cycles, based on the aayah quoted. (Fataawa al-Talaaq by Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 1/286).
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: http://islamqa.com/
Remarrying With Same Person
Marriage to the same person is only possible when the woman gets married with other person and then either that person dies or divorces her without any force and agreement. (Sexual relations must have been conducted with that woman before any divorce)
�So if a husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), He cannot, after that, re-marry her until after she has married another husband and He has divorced her. In that case there is no blame on either of them if they re-unite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the limits ordained by Allah, which He makes plain to those who understand� (Al-Baqarah 2:230)
Spending Iddah Period
If the divorce is revocable, i.e. if it is the first or the second divorce, then the wife must spend the whole `Iddah in her husband's house and she is not allowed to leave it save for a dire necessity.
However, if the divorce is irrevocable, i.e. if it is the final divorce, then she may spend the waiting period in her husband's house or in any other house, because it is a controversial issue among scholars. (Based on a fatwa given by Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee.)
Badshah Mamun:
IDDAH AFTER DIVORCE
Question :
Is the term `Iddah applicable to the widow and the divorcee? What is the need of `Iddah and for how long should this "waiting period" be? If a wife asks her husband for a khula and he accepts, how long is the waiting period? Can she remarry with same person? Where to spend Iddah period?
Answer:
Name of Counsellor : A Group of Islamic Researchers
Iddah or a woman's post marital waiting period, is the period in which a woman waits before she may remarry to verify that she is not pregnant, or out of mourning for her deceased husband. (See: Ahmad ibn Naqeeb Al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveler)
Wisdom of Its Legitimacy:
1- To discern whether the woman is pregnant or not.
2- Shari`ah has ordained the period of `Iddah to avoid any confusion of lineage which may result from the woman's pressing need of marriage.
3- The period a woman spends in `Iddah whether short or otherwise sheds light on the seriousness of marriage and how far it is a sacred bond.
4- It allows the man and the woman to think twice before breaking up the family tie, especially in cases where divorce is revocable. (Source: The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh)
Rulings Pertaining To `Iddah:
As for the widowed woman whom husband dies while leaving her pregnant, her waiting period ends with the delivery of her baby. Allah Almighty says, "...And for those with child, their period shall be till they bring forth their burden�" (At-Talaq 65:4)
However, if the widowed woman is not pregnant, her waiting period ends after completing four months and ten days. Allah Almighty says, " Such of you as die and leave behind them wives, they (the wives) shall wait, keeping themselves apart, four months and ten days�" (Al-Baqarah 2: 234)
As for a divorced woman, her waiting period ends when three intervals between menstruations have finished, if she is not pregnant. Allah Almighty says: "Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart, three (monthly) courses. And it is not lawful for them that they should conceal that which Allah hath created in their wombs if they are believers in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands would do better to take them back in that case if they desire reconciliation. And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness, and men are a degree above them. Allah is Mighty, Wise." (Al-Baqarah 2:228)
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.islamonline.net
Khula `Iddah:
If the woman who has been divorced by khula, is pregnant then her �iddah lasts until she gives birth, according to scholarly consensus. Al-Mughni, 11/227.
But if she is not pregnant, the scholars differed concerning her �iddah. Most of the scholars said that she should wait for three menstrual cycles, because of the general meaning of the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
�And divorced women shall wait (as regards their marriage) for three menstrual periods �.� (Al-Baqarah 2:228)
But the correct view is that it is sufficient for a woman divorced by khula� to wait for one menstrual cycle, because the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told the wife of Thaabit ibn Qays, when she divorced him by khula�, to wait out the �iddah for one menstrual cycle. (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1185; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 946). This hadeeth refers specifically to khula� divorce whereas the aayah quoted above speaks of divorce in general. But if she waits out an �iddah of three menstrual cycles that will be more complete and will be on the safe side, and will avoid an area of scholarly dispute, as some scholars say that she should wait for three menstrual cycles, based on the aayah quoted. (Fataawa al-Talaaq by Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 1/286).
Remarrying With Same Person
Marriage to the same person is only possible when the woman gets married with other person and then either that person dies or divorces her without any force and agreement. (Sexual relations must have been conducted with that woman before any divorce)
�So if a husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), He cannot, after that, re-marry her until after she has married another husband and He has divorced her. In that case there is no blame on either of them if they re-unite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the limits ordained by Allah, which He makes plain to those who understand� (Al-Baqarah 2:230)
Spending Iddah Period
If the divorce is revocable, i.e. if it is the first or the second divorce, then the wife must spend the whole `Iddah in her husband's house and she is not allowed to leave it save for a dire necessity.
However, if the divorce is irrevocable, i.e. if it is the final divorce, then she may spend the waiting period in her husband's house or in any other house, because it is a controversial issue among scholars. (Based on a fatwa given by Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee.)
Badshah Mamun:
IDDAH FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF HUSBAND
Question :
Is it permissible for the woman who is in �iddah to go out to the marketplace in case of need?
Answer: Praise be to Allah.
It is permissible for the woman who is in �iddah to go out to the marketplace in case of need, and to go to the hospital for treatment. Similarly, it is permissible to her to go out to teach and seek knowledge, because that is one of the most important needs. But she should avoid adornment, perfume, jewellery of gold, silver and diamonds, and the like. The woman in �iddah must pay attention to five things:
1. She should stay in the house in which her husband died and in which she lives, if possible.
2. She should avoid beautiful clothes.
3. She should avoid perfume, unless she has her menses, in which case she may use bukhoor (incense) when purifying herself following her menses.
4. She should not wear jewellery of gold, silver, diamonds and the like.
5. She should not use kohl or henna, because there is proof from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) which points to what we have mentioned.
And Allah is the source of strength. End quote.
Majmoo� Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 22/200
Badshah Mamun:
COUNTING IDDAH PERIOD
Question :
My mother is in �iddah and it so happens that the three months following my father's death contained only 29 days and the fourth month was complete, i.e., thirty days. Should she add 10 days only, so that it will be four months and 10 days, or should she add 13 days, including three days to make up the shorter months?.
Answer: Praise be to Allah.
The �iddah for a woman whose husband has died is four months and 10 days, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
�And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they (the wives) shall wait (as regards their marriage) for four months and ten days, then when they have fulfilled their term� (Al-Baqarah 2:234)
This period begins when the husband dies and ends when that period ends.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (8/93):
The scholars are unanimously agreed that the �iddah of a free Muslim women who is not pregnant lasts for four months and 10 days from the death of her husband, regardless of whether the marriage was consummated with her or not, whether she was an adult or a minor, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
�And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they (the wives) shall wait (as regards their marriage) for four months and ten days, then when they have fulfilled their term� (Al-Baqarah 2:234)
And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: �It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for anyone who dies for more than three days, except for a husband, four months and 10 days.� Agreed upon.
She should count the Arabic, lunar months and not the days, according to the opinion of the majority of fuqaha�, whether the month is complete or not. When she has completed four months, she should add 10 days of the fifth month, and thus she will have completed her �iddah.
This applies if the death occurs on the first of the month. If he dies during the month, then she should count the rest of the first month and three months with their new moons -- whether the months are complete or not -- and 10 days. With regard to what she missed of the first month, she may count it in two ways according to the scholars:
1. She may regard the month as 30 days, whether it turned out to be complete (30 days) or incomplete (29 days);
2. She may count as �iddah the same amount of time in the fifth month as she missed in the first month. If the first month turned out to be complete, then she should count the number of days to complete 30 days, and if it turns out to be incomplete, then she should count the number of days to complete 29 days.
See: al-Mughni, 8/85; Kashshaaf al-Qinaa�, 5/418; al-Mawsoo�ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 29/315
The second view was favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, and was regarded as more correct by our contemporary scholar Shaykh Ibn �Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him).
An example of that in the case of death: if a man dies on the 12th of Muharram, his wife should observe �iddah until the 12th of Jumaada al-Aakhirah. This is four months, regardless of whether they are complete or not. Then she should add 10 days, so her �iddah ends on the 22nd of Jumaada al-Aakhirah at the time when her husband died.
Based on that, all your mother has to do is add 10 days only, and she does not have to complete the incomplete months to make them 30 days.
And Allah knows best.
Badshah Mamun:
THINKING OF DIVORCE : SHATAN WASWASAH
Question:
Because I am suffering from waswasah (whispers from the Shaytaan), sometimes I do not answer my wife when she tries to speak to me, because of this waswasah or because I believe she is the cause of this waswasah. Does the fact that I do not answer her count as a talaaq (divorce)? If I speak to her angrily does that count as a talaaq?
Answer: Praise be to Allah.
Not answering your wife does not count as a talaaq, neither does speaking to her angrily.
No matter how much you may think of divorce, or intend and resolve to do it, talaaq (divorce) does not take place until and unless you utter the words of talaaq. That is because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: �Allah has forgiven for my ummah that which is whispered to them and which crosses their minds, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.� (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6664; Muslim, 127)
Based on this, according to the scholars if a man thinks of talaaq, that does not mean anything unless he speaks of it.
Indeed, according to some scholars, if a person is suffering from waswaas his talaaq does not count even if he utters it, so long as he did not have the intention of talaaq. Shaykh Ibn �Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
�The talaaq of a person who is suffering from waswaas does not count even if he utters the words, if that was not done deliberately, because this utterance happened because of waswaas, not because of his will or intention. Rather it was forced upon him because of the strength of the waswaas and his lack of self-control. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, �There is no divorce under compulsion.� So this divorce does not count, because he did not really want to do that. This was something that was forced upon him with no intention or choice on his part to do that, so this does not mean that talaaq has occurred.�
(Fataawa Islamiyyah, compiled by Shaykh Muhammad ibn �Abd al-�Azeez al-Musnad, 3/277)
We advise you not to pay any attention to these whispers, and to ignore them, and to do the opposite of what they are calling you to do. For these whispers (waswaas) come from the Shaytaan to cause grief to those who believe. The best way to deal with them is to remember Allah a great deal (dhikr), to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytaan, to keep away from sins and wrong actions which are the means by which Iblees gains control over the sons of Adam. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
�Verily, he [the Shaytaan] has no power over those who believe and put their trust only in their Lord (Allah)� [An-Nahl 16:99]
It is worth quoting here what Ibn Hajar al-Haythami (may Allah have mercy on him) said about dealing with waswasah in his book al-Fataawa al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubra, 1/149. This is what he said:
�He was asked about the problem of waswasah (insinuating whispers from the Shaytaan), and whether there is a remedy for it.
He replied by saying that there is an effective remedy for it, which is to ignore them completely, no matter how frequently they may come to mind. When these whispers are ignored, they do not become established, rather they go away after a short time, as many people have experienced. But for those who pay attention to them and act upon them, they increase until they make him like one who is insane or even worse, as we see among many of those who have suffered from them and paid attention to them and to the devil whose task it is to insinuate these whispers, whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) warned us against when he said, �Beware the whispers with regard to water (i.e., wudoo�) which is caused by a devil called al-Walhaan� � because that causes a person to go to extremes with regard to doing wudoo�, as was explained in Sharh Mishkaat al-Anwaar.
In al-Saheehayn there is a report which supports what has been mentioned above, which is that whoever suffers from waswaas should seek refuge with Allah and turn away from the waswaas. So think about this effective remedy which was taught by the one who does not speak of his own whims and desires to his ummah, and understand that whoever is deprived of this is deprived of all goodness, because waswasah comes from the Shaytaan, according to scholarly consensus, and the accursed one (the Shaytaan) has no other desire than to make the believers go astray, make them confused, make their life a misery, cause them distress to the extent that they leave Islam without realizing it.
�....Surely, Shaytaan (Satan) is an enemy to you, so take (treat) him as an enemy....� [Faatir 35:6 � interpretation of the meaning]
According to another hadeeth, the one who suffers from waswasah should say, �Aamantu Billaahi wa bi rusulihi (I believe in Allah and in His Messengers).� Undoubtedly, whoever thinks of the paths of the Messengers of Allah, especially our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) will find that his path and his law is easy and clear, with no hardship in it.
��and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship....� [Al-Hajj 22:78]
Whoever ponders this and believes in it sincerely, the problem of waswasah and listening to the Shaytaan will go away. In the book of Ibn al-Sunni it is narrated via �Aa�ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), �Whoever suffers from this waswaas, let him say �Aamantu Billaahi wa bi rusulihi (I believe in Allah and in His Messengers)�, three times, and it will go away from him.�
Al-�Izz ibn �Abd al-Salaam and others mentioned something similar to the above. They said: the treatment for waswasah is to believe that this is an idea from the Shaytaan and that Iblees is the one who is bringing these thoughts to his mind, and he should strive to fight him. Then he will have the reward of the mujaahid, because he is fighting the enemy of Allah. If he does that, then the Shaytaan will flee from him. This is what mankind has been tested with from the beginning of time, and Allah has given him (Iblees) some power over man as a test for him, so that Allah may show the truth to be true and falsehood to be false, even though the disbelievers may hate that.
In Muslim, hadeeth no. 2203, it is narrated that �Uthmaan ibn Abi�l-�Aas said: �The Shaytaan was interfering with my prayer and recitation of Qur�aan. He [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)] said: �That is a devil called Khanzab, so seek refuge with Allah from him and spit dryly to your left three times.� I did that, and Allah took him away from me.�
This hadeeth proves the point we are making, which is that waswasah can only overpower the one who is ignorant and confused and does not know what�s what. But the one who has knowledge and understanding will the Sunnah and keep away from bid�ah. The worst of the innovators are those who follow waswaas, hence Maalik (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that his shaykh al-Rabee� � who was the imam of the people of his time � was the fastest of the people in relieving himself and doing wudoo�.
Ibn Hurmuz used to be slow in relieving himself and in doing wudoo�, and he used to say �I have a problem, do not follow my example.�
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that one of the scholars thought it was mustahabb for the one who was affected by waswasah with regard to his wudoo or prayer to say Laa ilaaha ill-Allah, for when the Shaytaan hears dhikr (remembrance of Allah) he slinks away, and Laa ilaaha ill-Allah is the best of dhikr, and the most effective remedy for warding off waswasah is to remember Allah a great deal.
We ask Allah to take away the waswasah that you are suffering and to increase us and you in faith, righteousness and piety.
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