As for the maximum length of a pregnancy, the scholars hold different views. The stronger opinion is to rely on what is actually observed. Al-Muwaffaq Ibn Qudāmah says, “In any matter for which no explicit text exists, one refers to what is found in real life, and pregnancies lasting five years and even longer have been documented.”

The usual duration of pregnancy is nine months, for most women give birth within that time, and this norm is accordingly taken into account.

Pregnancy enjoys inviolability under Islamic law; it is forbidden to assault the fetus or cause it harm. If it is expelled dead after the soul has been breathed into it because of a criminal act, both blood money (diya) and the required expiation (kaffārah) are due. Should a pregnant woman become liable to a ḥadd penalty—whether flogging or stoning—the punishment is postponed until she delivers. Nor may the mother abort the fetus by taking medication or the like.

All this testifies to the comprehensiveness of this sharīʿah, which even safeguards the unborn and accords them sanctity. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, for this complete and just law. We ask Him to grant us firm adherence to it and compliance with its rulings, devoting the faith sincerely to Him, though the disbelievers may resent it.

When a widow is not pregnant, her ʿiddah is four months and ten days, whether her husband’s death occurred before or after consummation, and whether the wife is ordinarily subject to intercourse or not. This ruling rests on the general wording of Allah’s statement: “As for those of you who die and leave wives behind, they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten nights” (Qur’an 2:234).

The eminent Ibn al-Qayyim said, “A widow’s waiting period becomes obligatory at the moment of her husband’s death, whether or not he had consummated the marriage with her, by the universality of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the people. The purpose of the widow’s waiting period is not …”