a divorced woman. Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three menstrual periods; and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs, if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have a better right to take them back during this period...” [al-Baqarah 2:228]

This cannot apply to a woman with whom intercourse took place under a mistaken assumption.

His statement, “or through fornication”: likewise, according to this view, the waiting period of a woman with whom fornication was committed is that of a divorced woman, by analogy with a divorced woman. But this is incorrect; it is among the most far-fetched analogies. How can unlawful, illicit intercourse be compared to lawful intercourse under a valid marriage contract? This is exceedingly remote. Hence, the second view in this matter is that she must undergo a period to establish that her womb is free, but she is not required to observe a waiting period. Indeed, the view reported from Abu Bakr and a group of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, is that a woman with whom fornication was committed is not required to observe a waiting period at all, nor must she undergo a period to establish that her womb is free—especially if she has a husband—because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The child belongs to the marital bed” (1).

Rather, if a man learns that his wife has committed fornication—may Allah protect us—and she repents, he should have intercourse with her immediately, so that no doubt remains in his heart in the future as to whether she conceived from the illicit intercourse or not. If he has intercourse with her immediately, then any child will be attributed to the husband, not to the fornicator. However, if the woman who committed fornication has no husband, then, according to the sounder view, she must undergo one menstrual period to establish that her womb is free.

His statement, “or under an invalid marriage contract”: likewise, the waiting period of a woman with whom intercourse took place under an invalid contract is that of a divorced woman. This is correct, because the one who entered into the contract believes it to be valid. As for a void contract, however, the sound view is that she does not observe the waiting period of a divorced woman, because a void contract is as though it never existed and has no effect whatsoever. The difference between a void contract and an invalid one is that a void contract is one whose invalidity is agreed upon by the scholars, whereas an invalid contract is one concerning whose validity they differ.