Section A woman observing ʿiddah falls into two categories: one whose husband has died and one whose husband is still alive. If the husband has died and she is pregnant, her waiting period ends when she gives birth; if she is not pregnant, her waiting period is four months and ten days. If the husband is alive and she is pregnant, her ʿiddah likewise ends with delivery; if she is not pregnant and is of those who menstruate, her ʿiddah is three qurūʾ—that is, three periods of purity; and if she is a minor or post-menopausal, her ʿiddah is three months. A woman divorced before consummation has no ʿiddah at all. A slave-girl’s waiting period for pregnancy is the same as that of a free woman; when reckoned by qurūʾ she observes two, and when reckoned by months she observes, in widowhood, two months and five nights, and in divorce one month and a half—though observing two full months would be preferable.

Section During the ʿiddah of a revocable divorce, the woman is entitled to housing and maintenance. In an irrevocable divorce she is entitled to housing only, unless she is pregnant, in which case maintenance is also due. A widow must observe iḥdād—refraining from adornment and perfume—and both the widow and the woman irrevocably divorced must remain in the house except for genuine need.

Section Whoever acquires ownership of a new slave-girl may not lawfully have intercourse with her until she has completed an istibrāʾ. If she menstruates, the istibrāʾ is one menstrual cycle; if she does not menstruate and her periods are reckoned by months, it is one month; and if she is pregnant, it is until she gives birth. When the master of an umm walad dies, she observes the same istibrāʾ as any other slave-girl.

Section When a woman suckles a child with her own milk, the child becomes her son or daughter under two conditions: first, that the child is under two lunar years of age; and second, that she nurses the child five