What is iddat? What is the object of iddat?

Question: What is iddat? What is the object of iddat?

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Answer

Iddat is commonly known as Iddah. It generally means a period of waiting or chastity that a married Muslim woman is supposed to observe following the separation from her husband, either due to the death of the husband or divorce. It is mentioned in Quran as well as under Section 2(b) of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

Amir Ali says that it is-

"an interval which the woman is bound to observe between the termination, by death or divorce of one matrimonial alliance and the commencement of another".

"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. (Al-Baqarah 2: 234 – 235) of Quran enlists the following things about Iddah in the form of verses –

• The observing period for a widow is four months and ten days,

• During this period, a woman cannot marry another man,

• If a person wants to marry a widow or divorced woman, he may declare his intentions socially acceptable while the iddat period is running; there shouldn't be any secret marriage commitment with the widow.

• Once the period of four months and ten days has been completed, a marriage contract can be finalized containing the time and place for marriage rituals.

The purpose of iddat is to ascertain whether the woman is pregnant and avoid any confusion as to paternity. The abstinence is imposed to ascertain whether she is pregnant by the husband, so as to avoid confusion about the parentage. The objects of Iddat are two-fold:

• Firstly, is to ascertain the pregnancy of the wife so as to avoid confusion of parentage (paternity of child); and

• Secondly, it is to give time after Talaq to both the couple so they can reconcile or re-think their relationship and decide whether to dissolve the marriage or revoke the Talaq pronounced.

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