Short answer
A divorced woman waits three monthly cycles before she may marry again. If she has no cycle, she waits three months. If she is pregnant, she waits until she gives birth. If she is divorced before the marriage is consummated, there is no waiting period at all. The Qur'an sets out each of these rules. The waiting period is called the 'iddah. It shows whether she is carrying her former husband's child, so that every child knows its father. It also gives the couple time to make peace. After a first or second divorce, the husband may take her back during it. In that time she stays in her home, and he must house her. A widow waits four months and ten days, or until she gives birth if she is pregnant.
| Her situation | She waits |
|---|---|
| Divorced, with monthly cycles | Three monthly cycles |
| Divorced, with no cycle | Three months |
| Divorced while pregnant | Until she gives birth |
| Divorced before the marriage was consummated | No waiting period |
| Widowed | Four months and ten days |
| Widowed while pregnant | Until she gives birth |
Full explanation
The ordinary rule: three cycles
The Qur'an says a divorced woman waits for three monthly periods. She may not hide what God (﷾) has created in her womb. During that time her husband has the better right to take her back, if he wants to make peace and not to harm her. The Qur'an allows this after a first or a second divorce, not after a third. The chapter on divorce tells men to count the waiting period with care. They must not turn their wives out of their homes during it, because God (﷾) may bring about a new situation. The schools of law (the four traditional schools of Islamic law) differ on how the three are counted. Hanafi and Hanbali jurists count the periods themselves. Maliki and Shafi'i jurists count the clean days between them.
“Divorced women shall wait concerning themselves for three monthly periods. Nor is it lawful for them to hide what Allah Hath created in their wombs, if they have faith in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have the better right to take them back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation. And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.”
“A divorce is only permissible twice: after that, the parties should either hold Together on equitable terms, or separate with kindness. It is not lawful for you, (Men), to take back any of your gifts (from your wives), except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah. If ye (judges) do indeed fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah, there is no blame on either of them if she give something for her freedom. These are the limits ordained by Allah; so do not transgress them if any do transgress the limits ordained by Allah, such persons wrong (Themselves as well as others).”
“So if a husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), He cannot, after that, re-marry her until after she has married another husband and He has divorced her. In that case there is no blame on either of them if they re-unite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the limits ordained by Allah, which He makes plain to those who understand.”
“O Prophet! When ye do divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed periods, and count (accurately), their prescribed periods: And fear Allah your Lord: and turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they (themselves) leave, except in case they are guilty of some open lewdness, those are limits set by Allah: and any who transgresses the limits of Allah, does verily wrong his (own) soul: thou knowest not if perchance Allah will bring about thereafter some new situation.”
Women with no cycle, and pregnant women
Qur'an 65:4 answers the question of how to count three periods when a wife has none. A woman whose periods have ended waits three months, and so does a woman who has not menstruated. A pregnant woman waits until she gives birth. The verse names no age. Jurists (scholars of Islamic law) of all four schools applied it to grown women whose periods never came. Today we know that some women never menstruate at all, such as those born without a working womb. Most classical commentators also counted young girls. Critics build a charge on this, answered in full on the page "Does Qur'an 65:4 allow marriage to girls who have not reached puberty?"
“Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy.”
On a woman who has reached the age by which women normally menstruate and still has not menstruated, Ibn Qudamah, a Hanbali jurist, rules that her waiting period is three months, because she is one of "those who have not menstruated". He records that this is also the view of Abu Hanifa, Malik and al-Shafi'i.
Reads "those who have not menstruated" as including young girls who have not yet reached the age of menstruation, whose waiting period after divorce is three months, the same as for women past menstruation.
When the periods stop
The law took the same care with a woman whose periods stopped after divorce. The Caliph Umar was the second leader of the Muslim community after the Prophet (ﷺ). He ruled that she waits nine months, to be sure she is not pregnant. Then she waits three more months before she may marry. Malik, the scholar of Medina in the eighth century, records that this was the practice in Medina.
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab reports the Caliph Umar's ruling: a divorced woman who has one or two periods and then stops menstruating waits nine months. If she is clearly pregnant, that settles it; if not, she keeps a waiting period of three months after the nine, and is then free to marry. Malik adds that this is the practice followed in Medina for a divorced woman whose periods stop.
No waiting period without intercourse
A wife divorced before the marriage was consummated, meaning before the couple had sexual relations, has no waiting period at all. The husband is told to give her a gift and let her go kindly. This shows the purpose of the 'iddah: it exists to make known whether she carries his child. Many jurists, among them the Hanafi and Hanbali schools, count a valid private meeting of the couple (khalwa) as consummation for this rule.
“O ye who believe! When ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye have touched them, no period of 'Iddat have ye to count in respect of them: so give them a present. And set them free in a handsome manner.”
Her rights during the waiting period
The divorced wife lives in the same style as her husband, according to his means, and he must not harass her. If she is pregnant, he supports her until she gives birth. He pays her if she nurses his child. When the term ends, he must either take her back on fair terms or part from her on fair terms, before two just witnesses. This is the rule after a first or second divorce. After a final, third divorce the schools of law differ on whether he must house her.
“Let the women live (in 'iddat) in the same style as ye live, according to your means: Annoy them not, so as to restrict them. And if they carry (life in their wombs), then spend (your substance) on them until they deliver their burden: and if they suckle your (offspring), give them their recompense: and take mutual counsel together, according to what is just and reasonable. And if ye find yourselves in difficulties, let another woman suckle (the child) on the (father's) behalf.”
“Thus when they fulfil their term appointed, either take them back on equitable terms or part with them on equitable terms; and take for witness two persons from among you, endued with justice, and establish the evidence (as) before Allah. Such is the admonition given to him who believes in Allah and the Last Day. And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out,”
The widow's waiting period
A widow waits four months and ten days. If she is pregnant, her waiting period ends when she gives birth. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) told a widow named Subay'a that she could marry once she had delivered her child. When her waiting period ends, she is free to decide for herself, in a just and reasonable way, including whether to marry again.
“If any of you die and leave widows behind, they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days: When they have fulfilled their term, there is no blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner. And Allah is well acquainted with what ye do.”
Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), reports that Subay'a, a woman of the tribe of Aslam, was widowed while pregnant. She gave birth, and about ten days later she went to the Prophet, who told her that she could now marry.
The Torah's divorce law
Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Torah. Its divorce law says that once a divorced wife has left her husband's house, she may become another man's wife. It sets no waiting period. It makes no provision for a child she may be carrying. The rabbis of the Talmud, the Jewish book of teaching and law, later saw the need and added a wait of three months. But the Torah's own text has none. The Qur'an puts the waiting period in scripture itself, with a rule for every woman.
“When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”
The Mishnah and Talmud rule that a divorced woman or a widow may not remarry until three months have passed, so that it can be known whose child she carries. The rule is rabbinic; the Torah's text does not state it.
Perspectives
The Islamic perspective
The 'iddah protects the child's right to know his father, gives the marriage a last chance, and keeps the divorced wife housed. The Qur'an provides a rule for every woman.
A divorced woman with monthly periods waits three periods. After a first or second divorce her husband may take her back in that time if he seeks reconciliation.
A woman with no cycle waits three months, and a pregnant woman waits until she gives birth.
The Qur'an says a wife divorced before the marriage is consummated has no waiting period.
The Caliph Umar ruled that a woman whose periods stop waits nine months and then three more.
During the waiting period after a first or second divorce, the husband must house the wife as he lives himself. He must support her if she is pregnant.
A widow waits four months and ten days, or until she gives birth if she is pregnant.
The divorce law of Deuteronomy sets no waiting period before a divorced wife remarries.