Examine the validity of a marriage with a woman undergoing iddat.

Question: Examine the validity of a marriage with a woman undergoing iddat. [HJS 1998]

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Answer

“Iddat” may be described as the period during which it is incumbent upon a woman, whose marriage has been dissolved by divorce or death to remain in seclusion, and to abstain from marrying another husband. The abstinence is imposed to ascertain whether she is pregnant by the husband, so as to avoid confusion about the parentage.

When the marriage is dissolved by divorce, the duration of the iddat if the woman is subject to menstruation, is three courses; if she is not so subject, it is three lunar months. If the woman is pregnant at the time, the period terminates upon delivery. When the marriage is dissolved by death, the duration of the iddat is four months and ten days. If the woman is pregnant at the time, the iddat lasts for four months and ten days or until delivery, whichever period is longer.

A marriage with a woman before completion of her iddat is irregular, not void. The Lahore High Court in Jhandu v. Mst Hussain Bibi, (1923) 4 Lah. 192, at one time, treated such marriages as void; but in a later decision of Muhammad Hayat v. Muhammad Nawaz, (1935) 17 Lah held that such a marriage is irregular and the children legitimate.

If the marriage is dissolved by death, the wife is bound to observe the iddat whether the marriage was consummated or not. If the marriage was dissolved by divorce, she is bound to observe the iddat only if the marriage was consummated, if there was no consummation, there is no iddat, and she is free to marry immediately.

The iddat of divorce commences from the date of the divorce; and that of death from the date of death. If information of divorce or of death does not reach the wife until after the expiration of the period of iddat, she is not bound to observe any iddat.