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In The Name of Allah,
Most Merciful.
RULES
AND REGULATIONS OF THE
IMPORTANCE
OF THE IDDAT IN ISLAM
We send Salutations
upon the Pure Soul of Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, and upon his family and companions.
In view of the gross neglect of the Islamic injunction of Iddah that we
observe today, we deem it imperative that our sisters be made aware of the
importance of Iddah, and its rules and regulations. It is for this reason that
this treatise has been prepared. We pray to Allah to instill into our hearts the
importance and significance of all His Injunctions, and may Allah accept this
humble effort from us.
Definition
Iddat (also pronounced IDDAH) is a period of
waiting that Islam has imposed upon a woman who has been divorced or whose
husband has died, after which a new marriage is permissible.
Origination
Iddat is established from The Holy Quran and the Hadith of Rasoolullah
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam). We cite the relevant verses in
this regard: In Surah Baqarah Almighty Allah states:
"And those women who are divorced, should keep themselves in waiting
for three periods."
This verse establishes the iddat for a woman who is divorced, such iddat
being a period of three haidh according to the hanafi mazh-hab. In another verse
in Surah Baqarah, Allah Ta'ala says:
"And those among you who expire and leave behind wives, they (the
wives) shall keep themselves in waiting for four months and ten days."
This verse clearly explains the iddat of the widow. In Surah Talaaq,
Almighty Allah states:
"And those women among you who despair of menstruation (i.e. having
reached the age of menopause), if you are in doubt then their iddat shall be
three months, as well as those women who do not have menstruation. And the
pregnant women, their period of waiting is that they deliver their babies."
The above verse defines two forms of iddat: a) the divorcee
who does not experience haidh or menstruation, either due to old age or
some other medical imbalance, shall pass an iddat of three Islamic
months; b) the wife who was divorced while expecting a child will have to wait
for the delivery of the baby before her iddat expires.
More laws and durations of iddat in detail shall appear further on.
THE PURPOSE OF THE IDDAT
There are several reasons why the iddat has been ordained. As
regards the iddat that is calculated according to the cycle of
menstruation, the purpose is, firstly, to establish the state of the womb, i.e.
to ascertain whether there has been conception prior to divorce or not. When
menstruation has been fixed as the basis for iddat, it will be a mere
formality to establish this, for when the blood of haidh flows it is a
sure sign that the womb is empty of a fetus. However, one period of menses is
insufficient to provide definite evidence of the 'emptiness' of the womb, so the
Shariah prescribes the elapse of another period for added confirmation. After
this second haidh it will be conclusively proven that the womb is
indeed free of pregnancy. Now that the womb has been certified as free of
burden, the third haidh or menstruation period is merely a mark of
respect for the bond of nikah and to prolong the termination of the nikah thus
increasing the chances of reconciliation The result of all this is an iddat
consisting of three haidh periods. As for those ladies who do not
experience haidh for reasons already outlined, the straightforward
three-month iddat prescribed for them will serve the same purpose as
expounded above, beyond any shadow of doubt. Furthermore, the three-month iddat
is to differentiate between the iddat of the free woman and the woman
in bondage, whose iddat the Shariah has set at two months, or two
menstruation periods.
Secondly, a hadith of Rasoolullah (sallallahu alaihi
wasallam) provides us with a very strong reason for observation of a period
of waiting called iddat. This hadith states:
"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not allow his
water (semen) to inseminate the plantation (womb) of another." (Abu
Dawood, Tirmizhi)
The "womb of another" spoken of here means the womb of the divorcee
which was probably inseminated by her former husband. We say probably because
such an issue is not clear until the iddat has in fact passed thus
proving the existence or non-existence of a fetus. If the latter then it is
clear that in reality the womb was not inseminated. Hence the only
meaning one can deduce from this hadith is that Rasoolullah (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) is prohibiting marriage during iddat, for
marriage is obviously a prelude to intercourse. If there was no waiting period
before the next marriage, the possibility was very great that the new husband
would have intercourse with the wife while she may be expecting the baby of her
former husband. This has been described by the hadith as "inseminating the
crops of another", i.e. depositing semen into a womb that has already been
impregnated by another. This one teaching of Rasoolullah (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) shows the wisdom and knowledge Allah had granted him, for
indeed this practice has not only religious complications but is even
detrimental for health reasons.
NOTE
The primary and chief reason for observation of iddat is the
injunction to do so by The Glorious Quran. This is the underlying juristical
cause for iddat, not the reasons cited above. These reasons are not
given by Almighty Allah, but were merely expounded by the Ulema from the verses
of The Glorious Quran. Hence, even if it is possible to determine the state of
the womb through scientific instruments or medical procedures, the iddat
will still be waajib. Since the Quran itself never mentioned any reason,
the iddat will be based plainly on the categoric command of The Holy
Quran. The argument that nowadays doctors are able to ascertain pregnancy
through their sophisticated machinery thus negating the need for a three month
period of waiting, will not be entertained since the injunction of iddat
by The Quran is unconditional (i.e., not underlined by any reason or motive).
This is purely a ritual command for which no reasons have been stated in The
Quran. So even if it is ascertained through any other medium that the womb is
free of fetus, observation of the iddat as commanded in The Quran will
still be compulsory.
For this reason, should the husband and wife (whom had definitely consummated
their marriage some time ago) both be secure in the knowledge that prior to
talaaq there was no conception because sexual intercourse had not taken place,
it will still be waajib for her to observe iddat after divorce had
taken place. There is, however, one occasion where the Shariah has not
prescribed any iddat, and that is the wife who is divorced before
consummation of the marriage, ( O you who believe! when you marry believing
women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then no period of
Iddah have you to count in respect of them. Verse 49, Surah Ahzab) In this
particular case the Shariah has considered the non-consummation of the marriage
as sufficient proof to negate any conception, although here too, such reasons
for the iddat are not stated.
Another purpose the iddat serves is to prolong the termination of
the nikah, thus increasing the chances of reconciliation. Whereas, had the
Shariah ruled a marriage as over after just one or two periods, the chances of
both parties re-uniting would have been drastically reduced.
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF IDDAT
Basically there are two types of iddat, viz:
1) Iddat-e-wafaat - iddat upon the death of the husband
- Iddat after Talaaq such as raj'ee, baa-in, magallazah or
after certain forms of separation, all of which had occurred after
consummation of the marriage.
Divorce or separation before consummation of a marriage
This occurs when immediately after marriage, before consummation, or before galwat
saheeha (i.e., such privacy between and husband and wife where there exists
no impediment from sexual intercourse), the husband divorces his newly wedded
bride. In this case there is no iddat since there exists no possibility
of her being pregnant. This ruling has been taken from verse 49 of Surah Ahzaab
quoted above. However if the husband acknowledges that at some stage he did
indulge in sex with his bride, it will be necessary for her to observe the iddat,
because now consummation has been established through their own confession.
IDDAT E WAFAAT - UPON THE DEATH OF THE HUSBAND
The iddat of wafaat or death commences from the date of
death of the husband. Hence, if the wife only learns of his death a few days
later, she is still obliged to calculate her iddat period from the day
he died, not from the day she learnt of his death. It should be remembered that
in the iddat-e-wafaat consummation of marriage is not a necessity. So
even if the husband passes away immediately after marriage, before coming
together with his wife, she still has to observe the iddat-e-wafaat. In
this case the iddat has been imposed as a period of mourning and grief,
not to determine any state of the womb.
Duration of this iddat
The iddat-e-wafaat is four months and ten days. If she is pregnant
then her iddat expires as soon as she delivers her child. (See details
of a pregnant woman's iddat under a separate heading further on.) It
should however be noted here that delivery of the baby will only be considered
as termination of the iddat if the wife was already pregnant at the
time of her husband's demise. If this was not the case, and the pregnancy only
became apparent after the husband's death then she will have to observe iddat
of three months, which is the iddat of a woman who does not menstruate.
This is because during pregnancy a woman does not have her menses. Her iddat
will, therefore, be three months.
IDDAT AFTER TALAAQ OR SEPARATION
The iddat of Talaaq begins immediately upon the Talaaq being issued
by the husband, whether the wife knows of it or not. If Talaaq is written out
then too, iddat will commence the moment the husband writes the
divorce, not when the wife receives the note. However, if in a letter addressed
to the wife, the husband states the following: "The moment you receive
this letter you are divorced " or any sentence conveying a similar
meaning then iddat will only begin when the wife receives the letter,
for that is when Talaaq occurs in this particular case. To ensure easy and
correct calculation of the iddat period for the wife it is preferable
to make a note of the date in a written Talaaq.
Duration of this iddat
There are three different durations prescribed by The Shariah for this type
of iddat, and each period applies to different types of women. These
are as follows:
- For a woman who menstruates
- For a woman who does not have monthly menses.
- For a woman who is pregnant
IDDAT FOR A MENSTRUATING WOMAN
For a woman who experiences her monthly menses the iddat is three
separate haidh or menstruation periods. If a woman was divorced during haidh
then too the iddat begins immediately. However, in this case the
duration of three haidh will only be calculated from the following haidh. This
means she will have to wait for the current haidh to end, pass one tuhar
(clean period), and thereafter start counting three separate haidh periods. The
haidh during which Talaaq was issued is not counted.
Note: It is haraam for the husband to divorce his wife
during her menstruation, although, in spite of this being haraam, such a divorce
is still valid and counted.
The iddat of a woman who has a fixed monthly period under ten days,
will only expire after she has had a complete bath, or after the complete time
of one salah elapses upon the end of the third haidh. Before then she will still
be regarded as being in iddat. However, if during the third haidh blood
flows for full ten days then this will signal the termination of her iddat.
In this case the iddat expires immediately upon the completion of the
ten-day period. Here the expiry of iddat does not depend on the lapsing
of a complete salah time, nor upon her having a bath. If the blood continued for
more than ten days then she will revert to her fixed monthly flow. This means
that she disregards all the extra days during which she bled and her iddat
would then have terminated after her fixed period, after the passing of a
complete salah time, or after taking a bath.
An example to illustrate the above rules:
A woman experiences a fixed monthly haidh flow of five days. She was divorced
and began her iddat of three haidh. Upon the end of the five days
during her third haidh her iddat will only expire once she had taken a
bath or one full salah time elapses. If however, during the third haidh she
suddenly started to bleed for longer than the normal five days (which was her
fixed period every month), and the bleeding continued for up to ten days then
the entire ten days will be considered haidh. In this case her iddat
ends at the end of the tenth day. The expiry of iddat in this case is
not dependent upon her having a bath or the passing of one complete salah time.
If the blood-flow exceeded ten days then she reverts to her normal monthly flow
which was five days. Her iddat would therefore be long over since her
haidh period was only five days.
THE IDDAT OF A WOMAN WHO DOES NOT MENSTRUATE
The duration of iddat for such a woman is three months. This applies
to a woman who has had her menopause, which according to the ruling of the Ulema
occurs at the age of fifty-five years. Similarly, if a woman has undergone an
hysterectomy as a result of which she does not experience haidh any more, or due
to medication she does not menstruate, the iddat for her will also be
three months.
THE IDDAT OF A WOMAN WHO HAS IRREGULAR BLOOD-FLOW
Sometimes due to irregularity in her cycle a woman does not have menses for
several months. For such a woman who experiences prolonged tuhr or
clean periods the Ulema have ruled that her iddat will last for one
full year. After the passing of one year she will be considered
out of her iddat and may remarry if she so wishes. In such an iddat
if her haidh resumes at any stage during the year, she will revert to the iddat
of three haidh. This could sometimes mean an extended iddat period,
especially if her menses resumed towards the end of the year. Should the woman
who has stopped menstruating once again experience resumption of her menses, the
iddat will revert to three haidh, i.e. the iddat for a
menstruating woman.
NOTE
Another form of irregular flow is the inconsistency some women experience in
their cycles, even well before the menopause. For instance, a woman has a flow
for perhaps three days, after which it stops, then continues for another three
days. Then after twelve or thirteen days there appear some spots or a few drops,
and again for the next few days there is no further discharge. This causes
considerable difficulty in not one but several areas of the woman's Deeni life.
If such a lady has to observe iddat, it will be necessary to contact
the Ulema and provide them in writing with her entire menstrual history so that
they may formulate an answer. Due to the intricacies and variances of such a
situation it will be very confusing to enlist the laws here which may apply to
such a woman. Therefore, rather contact the local Ulema when the need arises to
get a specific answer on one specific situation. Furthermore, woman should
remember that it is wajib for them to keep track of the changes in their flow as
well as the fixed cycle. Failing to do so is sinful and a careless attitude
towards Deen.
THE IDDAT OF A PREGNANT WOMAN
For one who is pregnant the iddat lasts till she delivers her baby,
no matter how long it takes. The iddat of a pregnant woman will expire
immediately she delivers the child, which in this particular case means the
birth of the entire child. As long as the whole baby has not yet totally emerged
from the mother, the iddat is not over. The expiry of iddat is
not dependent upon her taking a bath for purification from nifaas (afterbirth
impurity), even if the nifaas lasts for only a few seconds after birth. Nor is
it necessary to wait for the expiry of the nifaas period. If the baby is born a
few minutes after divorce then too, her iddat will expire and she may
marry again. This iddat therefore has no specific duration. It all
depends on the length of the pregnancy. The moment the wife completes her term
of pregnancy, the iddat ends.
If the wife gives birth to a child that is partially formed, or a still-born,
such a birth is enough to terminate the iddat. If she suffers a
miscarriage before four months of pregnancy (120 days) the iddat will
not be over. This is because according to the Shariah the fetus which is less
than four months is not considered a baby. She must now sit out the iddat
of either three haidh if she menstruates, or three months if she is not a
menstruating woman.
If the wife is bearing more than one child (twins, triplets, etc.) then the iddat
only expires upon the birth of the last child. All laws of iddat that
apply to a normal birth or a natural miscarriage will apply to abortions. So, an
abortion performed within four months would not terminate the iddat,
while an abortion after four months would bring an end to the iddat.
NOTE
It is haraam to have an abortion after four months of pregnancy, since
according to the hadeeth shareef the rooh is instilled into the fetus
after this period. Within four months this will be permissible if the woman has
a valid reason, such as ill-health or rape, for example. Once the rooh has
entered the fetus it is now considered to be a human being, hence there can be
no justification for taking the life of this human, which is what abortion
represents. Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam termed this Al
wa'dul khafiy, i.e. lesser degree infanticide.
CALCULATION OF AN IDDAH PERIOD
Besides a complete term of pregnancy and three haidh periods, the iddat
is sometimes calculated according to months and sometimes according to days. A
menstruating woman undergoes three haidh periods before her iddat can
expire, while the pregnant wife has to deliver her child in order to complete
her iddat.
The iddat for a woman who does not experience monthly menstruation
has been given as three Islamic months. If the beginning of this iddat
coincides with the start of an Islamic month then it will only expire when the
new moon for the fourth month has been sighted. Similarly, in the iddat-e-wafaat
if death occurred at the beginning of a lunar month then four months and
ten days will be calculated accordingly. That means that the iddat will
expire on the tenth day of month number five. For example, the husband died on
the first of Muharram, so her iddat ends on 10 Jumaadal Ula. However,
If the iddat had to be commenced somewhere in the middle of a lunar
month then the iddat will be calculated in days. So in this case a
three-month iddat will actually be 90 days (3 x 30, with each month
being regarded as thirty days). For example, if her iddat had to begin
on 10 Rabiul Owwal, then she would count 90 days from that date onwards,
irrespective of whether the subsequent months have 29 or 30 days.
The same applies to iddat after death. If the husband died on 20
Muharram, for example, the duration of the iddat will be regarded as
130 days in total (4 x 30 + 10). There is now no need to consider how many days
the following months have. Also note that the iddat will end at the
exact time of day that it began. For instance, if the husband died at ten
o'clock during the day, the iddat will also end at ten o'clock on the
130th day if it was calculated in days. If the iddat went according to
months then it would end at ten o'clock on the tenth day of the fifth month. If
Talaaq was issued at 8.00 a.m. then for a non-menstruating woman the iddat
will end at 8.00 a.m. on the 90th day, or on the first day of the fourth month
where the iddat had to be calculated according to months. In all cases
the count begins from the next day, i.e. the day after death or Talaaq, In other
words, the first day of iddat is not counted to ensure a complete iddat
period. Otherwise, by including the first day in our calculations the iddat
will end one day prematurely. For example, if death occurred at ten in the
morning, the first day of iddat ends at ten the following morning, the
second day at 10 a.m. the following morning, and so forth. Day number one will
actually be counted from the following morning. In this case the iddat
will end also at ten. In short, the iddat always ends at the same time
of day that it began. It is, therefore, important to make a note of the exact
time of death or divorce. However, in matters pertaining to iddat it is
preferable to play safe. If the wife is not sure as to the exact time her iddat
will end, rather wait a few more hours or even days before considering the iddat
as over.
- A girl that becomes baalig at the age of fifteen and has not experienced
proper haidh (that means she may have had one or two days flow, not the full
three days), will also have to observe iddat in months if she was
divorced. Such a girl who has become baalig through any way besides haidh,
also has to wait one year from date of divorce, after which she will observe
an iddat of three months.
- A woman who reaches the age of 30 years and has yet not had a proper haidh
(i.e three full days of flow), must also observe an iddat of three
months.
- A woman who has reached the menopause age which the Ulema have set down as
fifty five, must as least have had a cessation of haidh for six months, and
only then will it be declared that she has reached the age of menopause.
- The woman who at a young age suddenly has a cessation of haiz, will only
begin to calculate her iddat in months when the cessation of haidh
lasts for at least one full year.
RESTRICTIONS PERTAINING TO THE IDDAT
Here we mention certain prohibitions upon the wife which come into force
during the iddat.
LEAVING THE CONFINES OF THE HOME
The confines of the home in this context include the front and backyard.
a) A woman who has been divorced is not allowed to leave the confines of her
home during the iddat for whatever reason, be it to visit friends or
relatives or to attend the funeral of even her parents. If however, there is
some danger to life or limb and leaving the home becomes necessary then she is
allowed to leave but must return as soon as the danger is over. Similarly, if a
spiteful husband evicts her from the house then too, she is allowed to go and
spend her iddat elsewhere, preferably at her parents home. In this case
the husband is guilty of a major sin, since he is flouting a law of The Holy
Quran. Allah has commanded the husbands in Surah Talaaq: "Do not evict
them (from the home) nor should they emerge (on their own).."
b) A woman who has lost her husband is allowed to emerge from the home to
earn a living if there is no one to support her, in which case she may go out
during the day but must be back by sunset. However, if she does have an income
or there is someone to support her then even the widow is not allowed to leave
the home. Besides earning a living when there are no other means of income, the
widow is not allowed to go anywhere else during the iddat, as stated in
(a) above. Furthermore, if she can operate her business or earn her livelihood
from within the confines of the home then also she is not allowed to emerge.
c) The woman in iddat may go into the front or backyard of the home.
She may not proceed beyond this area.
d) Hajj is not fardh upon a woman who is in iddat even though she
may have a substantial amount of funds. Hence she is not allowed to go for Hajj
or Umrah.
IMPORTANT NOTE
It must be remembered well that to emerge from
the home during iddat for no valid reason is indeed a severe crime in Islam. The
same prohibition and reprimand for this violation appear in the hadith for a
woman (married or spinster) who leaves the confines of her home for no Shar'ee
reason. Allah commands in the first verse of Surah Talaaq: "Do not evict
them from their homes, nor should they leave on their own accord, except if they
bring forth an open act of lewdness." In the tafseer of this verse Hazrat
Abdullah bin Umar (radhiyallahu anhu) comments: "Her leaving the home prior
to the expiry of iddat is an act of open lewdness." This is similar to the
hadith of Rasoolullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) which states
that a woman who applies perfume and goes out into public is like an adulteress.
We can therefore see how serious a matter this is. Today our ladies have
abandoned these important and compulsory teachings of Islam. No wonder that they
are having such a great difficulty in following the Shariah. In this era, a
woman is divorced today, and tomorrow she is once more out on the street. Since
they have become so used to being outside the home, it is asking too much of
them to remain indoors for three months, a period which for some seems a
lifetime!
THE WORKING WOMAN AND IDDAT
Some women work, hence they do not observe
iddat for fear of losing their jobs. Has material gain become so crucial to us
that we are prepared to sacrifice the Law of Allah? Surely we need to think and
ponder carefully over the state of our Deeni affairs. Where Allah discusses the
laws of iddat, it is significant that He emphasis the qualities of taqwa and
tawakkul. He says: "And whosoever will adopt taqwa, Allah will open
up a way for him and will grant him sustenance from avenues which he himself
will not perceive. And whoever will have trust in Allah, Allah will suffice for
him." (Surah Talaaq) In another verse Almighty Allah specifically
assures the couple who are divorced: "And if the two separate,
Allah will enrich each one of them from His Bounty." Our sisters
should therefore realise that they too are required to inculcate taqwa and trust
in Allah. These are injunctions of Shariah, so at which stage of our lives will
we practice on these teachings? Surely these teachings apply to us as it does to
the rest of the Ummat. There must be some time in our lives where a small
sacrifice is made solely and sincerely for the sake of Allah. In return, the
rewards for such sacrifices are immense. Allah has Himself promised to provide
income to the divorcee.
Another aspect of emergence during iddat which
must be considered, is the interaction of the practice of hidaad and observance
of iddat. This practice, which is outlined in detail later on, entails the
abandonment of beauty and jewellery. This too is wajib during iddat. But if a
woman emerges from the home during iddat, she is forced to neglect the practice
of hidaad for she will most certainly adorn herself and apply cosmetics, which
is haraam during iddat. Hence, coming out of the home during iddat leads to
other haraam acts being committed. This is another reason why a woman must not
leave her home during iddat. For the working woman we must stress that during
iddat the husband has to provide for his divorced wife, as he would for her
during their nikah. If he fails to do so then in cases of dire need, the women
may leave the home to earn a living. However, she must return to the house
before sunset.
There is also the great danger that through her
emergence from the home in iddat a woman is exposing herself to the glances and
advances of menfolk. Allah forbid, this can lead to zinaa (adultery), for it
becomes known that this is a divorcee (and experience has shown that such people
are more prone to elicit affairs than those who have yet to taste married life).
If not zinaa, then there is the possibility of marriage that may arise during
iddat, which is also a haraam act. A nikah performed during the iddat of
a woman is not valid, and the couple that marry in this way are living in sin.
So a host of evils are created just through the neglect of a basic Shar'ee
injunction, the command to remain indoors for the duration of the iddat. Several
cases have been brought to our attention, of women entering into marriage while
the iddat is still in progress. Only Allah knows whether these marriages were
repeated again (to legalise it) after the iddat ended.
THE PRACTICE OF HIDAAD
a) Hidaad means: to avoid beauty and adornment. A woman in iddat is not
allowed to do the following:
She is not allowed to apply perfume, to wear jewellery and ornaments, to
apply surma or cajel to the eyes, to wear flowers, to wear attractive clothing,
to apply henna (mehndi), to apply cosmetics, to apply oil to the head, to comb
the hair, or to resort to any other form of adornment women normally do to make
themselves attractive.
All the above are haraam during the iddat for a widow or a woman who
has been given three Talaaq or one baa-in Talaaq. (Baa-in talaaq is a
type of divorce that breaks the nikah with immediate effect and the couple can
only reconcile by making a new nikah.) Except for a woman who has been given Talaaq
Raj'ee, this practice of hidaad is wajib upon every other woman in iddat.
(Raj'ee talaaq means a divorce after which the couple can still
reconcile and come back to each other without making a new nikah.)
b) Combing the hair will be allowed if it is done out of necessity, such as
to avoid knots and tangles in the hair, but not for attraction and appeal. (Also
see note 'f'further down)
c) The purpose of hidaad is to dispel any intentions men may have of
marriage, since it is haraam to marry while in iddat. So when a woman
adorns and beautifies herself, she is inviting the attentions of men, especially
now that she is without a husband. Such is the strict ruling of the Shariah
about marriage during iddat that Allah has forbidden all such
activities that may directly or indirectly lead to marriage while the divorcee
or widow is still in her iddat. So much so, that the Quran has even
forbidden a proposal of marriage in iddat, as well as any negotiations
about nikah with the woman. These are all indications of how serious a crime it
is to contract a nikah with a woman who is in iddat.
d) A woman who has been given Raj'ee Talaaq, i.e. the husband has the right
to take her back without a new nikah in the iddat, does not need to
avoid beauty and adornment since the Shariah encourages reconciliation. Perhaps
through her adornment and beautification, the husband will be persuaded to take
her back. In this type of Talaaq the nikah is still intact, so this divorcee is
not bound by the practice of Hidaad.
e) Besides the above type of divorcee, all other women as well as those who
have lost their husbands, must compulsorily observe hidaad.
f) She is allowed to use medication, and to bath and clean herself. If oil or
surma has to be used for medicinal purposes then this is allowed provided she
uses oil which has no fragrance and applies the surma at night and wipes it off
in the morning. Similarly if the need arises to comb the hair (such as in the
case of lice) then this too is permissible. In short, these prohibitions become
lawful if there is a pressing need, such as illness for example. Otherwise,
these activities will not be permissible.
g) Upon the death of any other close relative (besides husband), it is
permissible, with the husband's permission only, to observe the practice of
hidaad as an act of mourning. But this will be done for only three days and it
is haraam to observe this practice for longer than three days. And if the
husband forbids the wife then it will not be permissible at all.
THE IDDAT OF A WOMAN WHO IS AWAY FROM HOME
NOTE: The home of the wife will mean any house owned or rented
by the husband, in which they were residing at the time of death of divorce.
Upon Death or divorce:
- If a woman is divorced or her husband dies while she is visiting someone,
she should return immediately to begin the iddat in her home.
If she is on a journey then the following laws will apply:
- If the Talaaq or death occurs at such a stage of the journey that between
her present location and her home town the distance is less than the forty
eight miles (which is the Shar'ee qualification for a Musaafir),
while between her and her destination (towards which they were heading)
there is a distance of over forty eight miles then it is incumbent upon her
to return home immediately on learning of the Talaaq/death.
- If there is a distance of more than forty eight miles between her location
on the journey and her home town, while towards her destination the distance
is less than forty eight miles, she should continue with her journey to
spend iddat at her destination if possible (as will be explained
later). The above laws indicate that at all times she must not begin a
travel distance of forty-eight miles. Hence, she will always opt for the
distance which is less than forty-eight miles, be it towards her home or in
the direction of the destination which they were heading when death of
talaaq occurred.
- If she finds herself at such a stage of the journey that either direction
she goes, the distance is greater than forty eight miles, be it towards her
intended destination or towards home then she has the choice of continuing
or returning home, with the latter option being more preferable since this
is in keeping with the original Shar'ee ruling that she should
spend her iddat in the home where she always lived with her
husband.
- In the above case if the woman happens to be in a city or any area where
she can live comfortably for the duration of the iddat period then
it is compulsory upon her to remain there if she has no mehram to accompany
her back home. This is the unanimous ruling of all the Hanafi Jurists.
However, according to Imam Abu Hanifa she is allowed to stay there even if
she has a mehram, while the other Ulema maintain that in such a case she
must go back home.
In the event that she decides to return home, if she comes across a place
where she can live comfortably and safely, she should spend the iddat
there on the basis of the above difference regarding a mehram. Living
comfortable in this context means that she is safe, has no fear and finds the
necessities of life in order to subsist, while being able to remain confined to
her dwellings.
- A common situation that arises is when the husband dies while his wife is
on Hajj in Makka Mukarrama. Let us determine the Shar'ee ruling on
the basis of what was mentioned above. It is obvious that returning home
means she has to initiate a journey that will render her a Musaafir, which
is what she is not allowed to do. Furthermore, it is clearly possible for
her to stay where she is without any difficulty at all, since she has
already prepared herself for a lengthy stay in the Holy City of Makka. And
according to Imam Abu Hanifa even if she does have a mehram with her, she
can continue living where she is. So, in such a case it will be lawful for
the bereaved widow to spend her iddat in Makka until her family and
mahram decide to return.
- The next question is: Can she perform her Hajj while in iddat? We
explained earlier that one of the conditions for Hajj being fardh in the
case of a woman is that she must not be in iddat. However if she
does perform the Hajj in this state it will be valid (i.e. the Hajj will be
discharged), but doing so is sinful. It therefore means that if she has to
spend iddat in Makka, Hajj will not be fardh upon her, and
accordingly, it will not be permissible for her to do the Hajj since this
entails violation of her iddat restrictions.
- When it is time for the return journey home from Makka, the wife in iddat
will leave along with her mehram and other family relatives (in view of her
travel arrangements, it will not be possible for her to stay any longer),
and spend the rest of her iddat at home, In such a case, because of
the above facts, she will be allowed to travel home, even though the journey
back home is obviously more than 48 miles, but iddat resumes as
soon as she reaches home.
May Allah grant our sisters the
ability to practice on these laws when the need arises. Aameen
Prepared by:
MADRESA MASEEHUL-ULOOM
MALABAR - PORT ELIZABETH
SOUTH AFRICA |
