Divorce issued after a miscarriage

QUESTION:

A woman experiences a miscarriage and immediately thereafter, she is divorced. When would her Iddah commence and terminate?

ANSWER:

In principle, if a lady had a miscarriage and was subsequently divorced, then either one of two scenarios will be applicable regarding to her Iddah:

1. The limbs of the fetus were not formed.

In this case, the bleeding experienced by the lady will not be regarded as Nifaas, rather, it will be considered as Haidh. Hence, in this instance, the lady will start her Iddah immediately, and sit in Iddah for the duration of three menstrual cycles as per normal. Her Iddah will terminate at the end of the third menstrual cycle. If she was divorced immediately after her miscarriage during the Haidh period, then this Haidh will not be counted, rather the subsequent Haidh will be counted as the first Haidh of her Iddat.

2. The limbs of the fetus were formed.

In this case, the bleeding experienced by the lady will be considered as Nifaas and her Iddah will commence immediately. However, the difference here is that she will wait for her Nifaas to terminate first, and thereafter start counting her Iddah of Talaaq which is three menstrual cycles. Upon termination of her third menstrual cycle, her Iddah will be regarded as completed.

ایام نفاس گذرنے کے بعد جب تک تین مرتبہ ماہواری نہ آجائے ، اس وقت تک مذکورہ مطلقہ کی عدت جاری رہے گی، خواہ اس میں کتنا بھی عرصہ لگ جائے ۔  كتاب النوازل  (ج-10/ص-155)

وَلَدَتْ ثُمَّ طَلَّقَهَا وَمَضَى سَبْعَةُ أَشْهُرٍ فَنَكَحَتْ آخَرَ لَمْ يَصِحَّ إذَا لَمْ تَحِضْ فِيهَا ثَلَاثَ حِيَضٍ (رد المحتار ص528 ج3)

ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST!

ANSWERED BY:

Mufti Abdur Rahman Abdur Razak

Date:- 04 Safar 1445 / 21 August 2023

CHECKED AND APPROVED BY:

Mufti Mohammed Desai Saheb