About this topic
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Iddat decides when a Muslim woman whose marriage has ended may marry again. The answer is different for a widow, for a woman divorced after consummation and for a woman divorced before consummation.
Three Muslim women visit a lawyer. Neha lost her husband last week. Hansa was divorced a month ago, after six years of marriage. Zoya was divorced two days after her nikah, before she and her husband had ever been alone together. All three ask the same question: when can I marry again? Muslim law gives each of them a different answer (see Quick revision).
Meaning of iddat
The word iddat is Arabic and literally means counting. The name is a clue to the rule: during iddat a woman counts menstrual courses, months or days before she may marry again.
Definition: Iddat is the waiting period which a Muslim woman must observe when her marriage is dissolved by the death of her husband or by divorce. While it runs, she must not marry another man.
Iddat as a clock: four questions
The topic is easiest to master by treating iddat as a clock. Every clock raises four questions:
- Why does the clock exist? (Object of iddat)
- Does the clock start at all? (When iddat must be observed)
- When does it start, and how long does it run? (Commencement and duration)
- What happens while it is ticking? (Effects of iddat)
Object of iddat
Mulla states the reason directly:
"The abstinence is imposed to ascertain whether she is pregnant by the husband, so as to avoid confusion of the parentage."
A child's legitimacy, maintenance and inheritance all depend on knowing who the father is. The waiting period removes that doubt before it can arise.
Iddat therefore serves three purposes:
- Certainty of parentage: to ascertain whether the woman is pregnant by the husband and avoid confusion of parentage.
- Reconciliation: it gives the couple a chance to reconcile after a revocable divorce.
- Mourning: after a husband's death, it is a period of mourning.
When iddat must be observed
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Dissolution by death
On the death of the husband, iddat always applies. A widow must observe iddat even if the marriage was never consummated, that is, even if the spouses never had sexual intercourse.
Dissolution by divorce
On divorce, iddat applies only if the marriage was consummated. If it was not, there is no pregnancy to wait for, and the woman may marry immediately.
Valid retirement (Sunni law)
Sunni law adds the concept of valid retirement. In Mulla's words, it exists when the husband and wife:
"are alone together under circumstances which present no legal, moral or physical impediment to marital intercourse".
For the purposes of iddat, Sunni law treats valid retirement exactly like consummation.
A couple spend a night alone in their room with nothing to prevent intimacy, but intimacy never takes place. Under Sunni law this is valid retirement, so if the husband later divorces the wife, she must observe iddat.
| Mode of dissolution | Marriage consummated | Marriage not consummated |
|---|---|---|
| Death of husband | Iddat must be observed | Iddat must still be observed |
| Divorce | Iddat must be observed | No iddat; she may marry immediately (but under Sunni law, valid retirement counts as consummation) |
When iddat begins and how long it lasts
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Commencement of iddat
Iddat starts on the date of the divorce or the death, not on the day the woman hears the news. Shia law differs here: a widow counts her iddat from the day the news of the death reaches her.
A merchant navy officer dies at sea, and his family is told only five months later. Under Sunni law, his widow's iddat has already run out, so she need not observe it at all. Under Shia law, she counts her iddat from the day the news reaches her.
| Point | Sunni law | Shia law |
|---|---|---|
| Start of a widow's iddat | From the date of the husband's death | From the day the news of the death reaches her |
Duration of iddat
The length of iddat depends on how the marriage ended and on whether the woman is pregnant.
| Situation | Duration of iddat |
|---|---|
| Widow | Four months and ten days |
| Divorced woman subject to menstruation | Three menstrual courses (three monthly cycles) |
| Divorced woman not subject to menstruation (for example, after menopause) | Three lunar months |
| Pregnant divorced woman | Until her pregnancy ends, whether that is sooner or later than three months |
| Pregnant widow | Four months and ten days or until delivery, whichever period is longer |
A pregnant widow faces two finishing lines: four months and ten days on one side, and delivery on the other. Mulla states that "the iddat lasts for four months and ten days or until delivery, whichever period is longer".
Pregnancy changes the timetable. A pregnant divorced woman's iddat ends when the pregnancy ends. A pregnant widow must cross both lines (four months and ten days, and delivery) before her iddat ends.
Iddat period under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986
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Parliament has written the divorce timetable into the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. Section 2 opens with the words "In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires", and Section 2(b) provides that "iddat period" means, "in the case of a divorced woman":
- "three menstrual courses after the date of divorce, if she is subject to menstruation";
- "three lunar months after her divorce, if she is not subject to menstruation"; and
- "if she is enceinte at the time of her divorce, the period between the divorce and the delivery of her child or the termination of her pregnancy, whichever is earlier".
Enceinte simply means pregnant.
The final words of Section 2(b), "the termination of her pregnancy, whichever is earlier", matter: a pregnancy may end through a miscarriage or a medical termination, and the iddat then ends as well.
Effects of iddat: what remains barred
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While iddat runs, some doors stay closed and some stay open. Two doors stay closed.
Bar on the woman's remarriage
The woman cannot marry another man until her iddat is over. If she does:
- under Sunni law, the marriage is irregular;
- under Shia law, the marriage is void, because Shia law does not recognise irregular marriages at all.
Irregular means defective but curable because, as Mulla explains, "the impediment ceases on the expiration of the period of iddat".
| Marriage during iddat | Sunni law | Shia law |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Irregular (defective but curable) | Void |
| Reason | The impediment ceases when iddat expires | Irregular marriages are not recognised at all |
Restraint on the husband
Iddat is not purely a rule for women. Mulla notes that it restrains the husband's marriage too, to a limited extent. Muslim personal law allows a man at most four wives at one time. So if a man with four wives divorces one of them after consummation, he cannot marry another wife until her iddat is over.
Effects of iddat: rights that continue
Three doors stay open during iddat: maintenance, reconciliation and inheritance.
Maintenance
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Section 3(1) of the 1986 Act opens with the words "Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, a divorced woman shall be entitled to", and clause (a) gives her:
"a reasonable and fair provision and maintenance to be made and paid to her within the iddat period by her former husband".
Danial Latifi v. Union of India (2001): a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court interpreted Section 3(1)(a) of the 1986 Act. Held: "such a reasonable and fair provision extending beyond the iddat period must be made by the husband within the iddat period". Principle: iddat fixes the deadline for making the provision, not the limit of the woman's protection.
The remaining clauses of Section 3(1) deal separately with:
- Clause (b): maintenance for the children she maintains;
- Clause (c): her mahr or dower;
- Clause (d): the properties given to her before, at or after the marriage.
After Danial Latifi, the provision for the divorced wife must be made within the iddat period, but it may extend beyond the iddat period.
Reconciliation
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- While a divorce remains revocable, the marriage is not finally dissolved.
- The husband may revoke the divorce during the iddat, by words or by conduct, such as resuming conjugal relations.
- If the iddat ends without revocation, the divorce becomes irrevocable.
- An irrevocable divorce ends the marriage at once, but the wife must still observe iddat.
Inheritance
Either spouse may inherit from the other until the divorce becomes irrevocable. After that, these mutual rights of inheritance cease.
Exception: divorce during marz-ul-maut
There is one exception, designed to stop a misuse. Marz-ul-maut means death-illness: an illness that makes a person apprehend death and actually ends in death.
Under Hanafi law, if a husband in marz-ul-maut divorces his wife and dies before her iddat expires, she still inherits from him, even if the divorce had already become irrevocable. Mulla explains that a repudiation by a man in his last illness is "nothing but a device to defeat the wife's right of inheritance".
Limits of this protection:
- It is lost if she was divorced at her own request.
- It is one-sided: the husband cannot inherit from her if she dies during that iddat.
Normal rule: mutual inheritance survives only until the divorce becomes irrevocable. Exception (Hanafi law): a wife divorced by a husband in marz-ul-maut inherits if he dies before her iddat expires, unless the divorce was at her own request; the husband gets no reciprocal right.
Scope of these rules
The rules of iddat are rules of Muslim personal law. In Uttarakhand, the Uniform Civil Code, 2024 now governs marriage and divorce for all residents (including residents of Uttarakhand living outside the State) except members of Scheduled Tribes and persons whose customary rights are protected under Part XXI of the Constitution.
Updated from the lecture: the lecture said the Code applies to all residents except members of Scheduled Tribes. The correct position is that section 2 of the Code also excludes persons and groups whose customary rights are protected under Part XXI of the Constitution, and section 1(3) applies the Code to residents of Uttarakhand who live outside the State. Section 29 bars dissolving a marriage except under the Code, notwithstanding personal law. Source: The Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, 2024 (Act No. 3 of 2024), Gazette text.
Quick revision
- Neha (widow): waits four months and ten days or, if she is pregnant, until her delivery if that comes later.
- Hansa (divorced after six years of marriage): waits three menstrual courses, or three lunar months if she is not subject to menstruation, or until her pregnancy ends if she is pregnant.
- Zoya (divorced two days after her nikah): divorced before any consummation or valid retirement, so she has no iddat and may marry immediately.
- These are rules of Muslim personal law; in Uttarakhand, the Uniform Civil Code, 2024 governs marriage and divorce for all residents except members of Scheduled Tribes and persons whose customary rights are protected under Part XXI of the Constitution.
