Chapter on Istibrāʾ

Istibrāʾ is a waiting period intended to ascertain that the womb of a woman held in right-hand possession is free of pregnancy; the term comes from barāʾa, which denotes separation and clearance.

Whoever comes to own a slave woman who is eligible for intercourse—whether through purchase, gift, capture, or any other means—is forbidden to have relations with her, or even begin the preliminaries of intercourse, until she has completed her istibrāʾ. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day must not water another man’s crop with his own seed,” reported by Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī, and Abū Dāwūd. In another narration collected by Abū Dāwūd he said, “A pregnant woman is not to be approached until she gives birth.”

The istibrāʾ of a pregnant slave woman ends once she delivers, in line with the Almighty’s statement: “As for those who are pregnant, their term shall be until they deliver their burdens” (65:4).

For a non-pregnant slave woman who menstruates, her istibrāʾ is one menstrual cycle, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed concerning the captives of Awṭās: “No pregnant woman may be approached until she gives birth, and no woman who is not pregnant until she experiences one menstrual period,” narrated by Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd. This ḥadīth therefore proves the obligation of istibrāʾ