(Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashta, Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir,
to the Questions of the Followers of his Facebook Page "Fiqhi")
Answer to Question
To: Waseem Sajjad
Question:
Assalam u Alaikum - A Teacher of Sociology has raised a question regarding the Edat (time break after a women husband dies which is 4 month and 10 days). He says that as philosophy behind this time is to came to know about women pregnancy after her husband death, so if medically it is proved that widow is not pregnant then the time of Edat should be reduced accordingly? Need your answer and guidance.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,
1- The primary basis for the Iddah (waiting period) of a woman whose husband has passed away is the saying of Allah (swt):
وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا فَإِذَا بَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنفُسِهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
"And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind - they, [the wives, shall] wait, keeping themselves [in waiting] for four months and ten [days]. And when they have fulfilled their term, then there is no blame upon you for what they do with themselves in an acceptable manner. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do." (Surah Al-Baqarah [2]: 234)
It is clear from this verse that the Iddah of a woman whose husband has passed away is four months and ten days. This is a general text (nass 'amm) regarding every woman whose husband dies, whether she is pregnant or not...
2- There is another noble verse:
وَأُولَاتُ الْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَن يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ
"And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth." (Surah At-Talaq [65]: 4)
This verse specifies (takhsis) the generality of the previous verse for those who are not pregnant. This means that a non-pregnant woman whose husband has died has an Iddah of four months and ten days, while a pregnant woman whose husband has died has an Iddah until she gives birth... Therefore, if it is proven that the widow is not pregnant, her Iddah is four months and ten days, definitively. In other words, the person who told you that if it is proven she is not pregnant then she has no Iddah has reversed the ruling. He is either ignorant and does not understand how rulings are derived and extracted, or he is a secularist plotting against Islam by changing the rulings for the purpose of misguidance...
3- We have explained this in The Islamic Personality (Ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah), Volume 3, Chapter: The Status of the Sunnah in Relation to the Quran, page 77 (Word file):
"(Specification of its General Text: Generalities appeared in the Quran, and the Sunnah came to specify this general text... Among this is the saying of Allah (swt):
وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا
'And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind - they, [the wives, shall] wait, keeping themselves [in waiting] for four months and ten [days].' (Surah Al-Baqarah [2]: 234)
This verse indicates the Iddah of death. This verse was then specified by the Hadith of Subay'ah al-Aslamiyyah, as she gave birth twenty-five days after her husband's death. The Prophet (saw) informed her that she had become permissible [for marriage]. This clarifies that the verse is specific to those who are not pregnant.)"
4- We also stated in the same book, Chapter: Specification of the Book by the Book (page 256, Word file):
"(It is permissible to specify the Book by the Book; because both were brought by revelation in word and meaning, so it is valid for one to specify the other. Furthermore, specification of the Quran by the Quran has actually occurred. An example of this is the saying of Allah (swt):
وَأُولَاتُ الْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَن يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ
'And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth.' (Surah At-Talaq [65]: 4)
This verse came to specify the saying of Allah (swt):
وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا
'And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind - they, [the wives, shall] wait, keeping themselves [in waiting] for four months and ten [days].' (Surah Al-Baqarah [2]: 234))"
5- That is, the widow's Iddah is four months and ten days, and if she is pregnant, her Iddah is until she gives birth. This is the opinion of the Jamhur (majority) of the jurists... There is a less preferred opinion (marjuh) held by some jurists, which is that the Iddah in this case is the longer of the two terms—between giving birth and the four months and ten days... As for what that person said to you, that if it is proven she is not pregnant she has no Iddah, it is not correct in any way. Rather, as we said before: (the person who told you that if it is proven she is not pregnant then she has no Iddah has reversed the ruling. He is either ignorant and does not understand how rulings are derived and extracted, or he is a secularist plotting against Islam by changing the rulings for the purpose of misguidance...)
6- This has been mentioned in the reliable books of Tafsir, and I will mention one of them:
It is stated in Tafsir Ibn Kathir regarding the noble verse:
وَاللَّائِي لَمْ يَحِضْنَ وَأُولَاتُ الْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَن يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ
"And those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth." (Surah At-Talaq [65]: 4)
"And His (swt) saying: 'And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth.' Allah (swt) says: Whoever is pregnant, her waiting period ends with giving birth, even if it were after divorce or death by the duration of the time between two milkings of a camel (fuwaq naqah), according to the majority of scholars from the Salaf and the later generations, as is the text of this noble verse and as mentioned in the Prophetic Sunnah. It has been narrated from Ali and Ibn Abbas (ra) that they were of the view that the widow should observe the longer of the two terms (giving birth or the months), acting upon this verse and the one in Surah Al-Baqarah. Al-Bukhari said: (Sa’d bin Hafs narrated to us, Shaiban narrated to us, from Yahya who said: Abu Salama informed me, he said: A man came to Ibn Abbas—while Abu Hurairah was sitting—and said: Give me a ruling regarding a woman who gave birth forty nights after her husband's death. Ibn Abbas said: [The Iddah is] the latter of the two terms. I (Abu Salama) said: 'And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth.' Abu Hurairah said: I am with my nephew—meaning Abu Salama. So Ibn Abbas sent his servant Kuraib to Umm Salama to ask her. She said: The husband of Subay'ah al-Aslamiyyah was killed while she was pregnant, and she gave birth forty nights after his death. She was then sought in marriage, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) married her off, and Abu al-Sanabil was among those who proposed to her.) This is how Al-Bukhari cited this Hadith here in brief. Muslim narrated it with the wording:
(Abu al-Tahir narrated to me, Ibn Wahb informed us, Yunus bin Yazid narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, Ubaidullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah narrated to me: That his father wrote to Umar bin Abdullah bin al-Arqam al-Zuhri ordering him to go to Subay'ah bint al-Harith al-Aslamiyyah and ask her about her Hadith and what the Messenger of Allah (saw) said to her when she sought a ruling. Umar bin Abdullah wrote back informing him that Subay'ah told him she was married to Sa’d bin Khawlah—who was among those who attended Badr—and he died during the Farewell Pilgrimage while she was pregnant. It was not long after his death that she gave birth. When she had cleared her post-partum period, she beautified herself for suitors. Abu al-Sanabil bin Ba’kak entered upon her and said: Why do I see you beautified? Perhaps you hope for marriage. By Allah, you are not to marry until four months and ten days have passed. Subay'ah said: When he said that to me, I gathered my clothes upon me in the evening and went to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and asked him about that. He gave me a ruling that I had become permissible [to remarry] when I gave birth, and he ordered me to marry if I wished.)"
The Conclusion:
The Iddah of a woman whose husband has passed away is explained in the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw), and it is:
1- If she is not pregnant, her Iddah is four months and ten days according to the verse in Surah Al-Baqarah:
وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا
"And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind - they, [the wives, shall] wait, keeping themselves [in waiting] for four months and ten [days]." (Surah Al-Baqarah [2]: 234)
And if she is pregnant, her Iddah is until she gives birth according to the verse in Surah At-Talaq:
وَأُولَاتُ الْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَن يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ
"And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth." (Surah At-Talaq [65]: 4)
as we explained earlier.
2- As for the one who told you that if it is proven she is not pregnant then she has no Iddah, he has reversed the ruling. As we said before: (He is either ignorant and does not understand how rulings are derived and extracted, or he is a secularist plotting against Islam by changing the rulings for the purpose of misguidance...).
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashta
07 Sha'ban 1440 AH Corresponding to 13/04/2019 CE
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