Book of Waiting Periods
Introduction

The waiting periods (ʿiddah) that arise from marriage are of two kinds.

1. The first concerns the separation of spouses while the husband is still alive, whether through ṭalāq (divorce) or through fasakh (annulment). It becomes obligatory only after intercourse or the insertion of the husband’s semen, even if the emptiness of the womb is certain, and—according to the new position—not merely by being alone together (khalwah).

   • A free woman who menstruates observes three quruʾ, and a qurʾ here means a period of purity. Thus, if she is divorced while pure, her waiting period ends with the onset of her third menstruation; if she is divorced during a menstruation, it ends with the onset of the fourth. According to one view a full day and night are required after that onset.
   • Does the period of purity of a girl who has never menstruated count as a qurʾ? Two opinions exist, hinged on whether a qurʾ is the transition from purity to bleeding, or a span of purity bounded by two bleedings; the latter is the sounder view.
   • A woman with istiḥāḍah (chronic non-menstrual bleeding) counts the quruʾ that have been assigned to her by the rules regulating such bleeding.
   • A woman who is unsure of her cycles observes three lunar months immediately—though another view postpones this until she reaches menopause.
   • An umm walad, a mukātaba, and any woman who is still in bondage wait two quruʾ. If such a woman is emancipated during a revocable divorce, she completes the waiting period of a free woman, according to the stronger opinion; if emancipation follows an irrevocable separation, she remains on the waiting period of a slave, again on the stronger opinion.
   • A free woman who has never menstruated, or who has reached menopause, waits three lunar months. If the divorce occurs in mid-month, she completes the rest of that month, then adds two full lunar months and makes up the broken part to reach thirty days. Should she menstruate during this span, she switches to counting quruʾ.
   • A slave woman waits one and a half months; another view says two months; yet another, three.
   • A woman whose bleeding stops for a reason—such as breastfeeding or illness—waits until she menstruates again or reaches menopause, after which she counts by months. If the cessation is without an external cause, the same ruling applies under the new opinion; in the old opinion she first waits nine months, and in another view four years, then counts by months.
   • Under the new position, if she menstruates after having started the post-menopausal monthly count, she must revert to the qurʾ formula. If she does so only after finishing that count, there are several views, the strongest being: if she has already remarried, nothing further is required; otherwise, she must observe the quruʾ.
   • Menopause is assessed by reference to the women of her clan; another view gauges it against all women in general.

I [the author] say: the latter opinion is stronger. Allah knows best.