The jurists are unanimously agreed that a divorce in conformity with the Sunnah may be pronounced only during a period of purity in which no intercourse has taken place. The Prophet’s—peace and blessings be upon him—words, “That is the waiting period for which Allah has commanded that women be divorced,” constitute an unequivocal proof that the ʿiddah itself is the intervals of purity, so that the divorce is immediately joined to the waiting period.

Yet his statement, “That is the ʿiddah,” can also be construed to mean, “That is the span that initiates the ʿiddah,” lest a single quruʾ be split by a divorce uttered during menstruation.

The strongest argument advanced by the second camp is that the waiting period was legislated to ensure that the womb is empty, and such certainty is obtained through menstruation, not through the intervals of purity. For that reason, the woman whose menses have ceased observes an ʿiddah measured in days; since the ʿiddah reckoned by quruʾ is tied to menstruation, they contend that quruʾ must be the menstrual periods.

Those who define quruʾ as the intervals of purity reply that what matters for verifying an empty womb is the transition from purity to menstruation, not the cessation of the bleeding; the final menstrual flow, therefore, has no legal significance. Accordingly, the three fully completed units that are required are the intervals of purity between two menses. Both groups, however, adduce lengthy proofs in support of their positions.

From the standpoint of rational analysis, the Ḥanafī view is the more compelling, while its transmitted proofs are equal, or nearly so, to those of the opposite side.

Among those who say that the ʿiddah consists of the intervals of purity there is no disagreement that it ends when the woman enters her third menstrual flow. Those who hold that it is the menses themselves, however, differ: one opinion—which is that of al-Awzāʿī—states that the ʿiddah ends with the cessation of bleeding from the third menses. Another view holds that it ends when she performs the ritual bath after the third menses; this was the position of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿAlī, and Ibn Masʿūd among the Companions, and of al-Thawrī and Isḥāq ibn ʿUbayd among the jurists. Others say it is completed only after the time for the prayer in which she became pure has elapsed. There is also a report from Shurayk that the husband retains the right of retrieval even if she neglects the ritual bath for twenty years. A further, likewise anomalous, opinion says that the ʿiddah ends as soon as she enters her third menses. Such, then, is the ruling for a woman who continues to menstruate.

With regard to a woman who is divorced, does not menstruate, yet is still of an age at which menses are normally expected, and for whom there is no suspicion of pregnancy, nursing, or illness, Mālik rules that she is to wait nine months; if she does not menstruate during that time, she then observes a three-month waiting period. Should she menstruate before completing those three months, she counts that menses and begins the waiting anew. If nine months pass without her seeing a second menses, she again observes three months; if she menstruates before completing those three months of the second year, she waits for the third menses. Should yet another nine months elapse without menses, she observes another three-month period; and if the third menses occurs within those three months she will have completed the ʿiddah reckoned by menses, and her waiting period is thereby concluded. Her husband retains the right to take her back so long as she has not yet become lawful for another.

There is a disagreement about Mālik’s own view as to when the nine-month count begins. One report—his statement in the Muwaṭṭaʾ—says that it starts from the day she is divorced; Ibn al-Qāsim, however, reports from him that it begins from the day her bleeding ceases.

Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and the majority maintain, with regard to a woman whose menses cease though she has not yet reached the age of despair, that she remains perpetually in waiting until