Title

Expiry time of my Iddat

Question

I would like to know what is the expiry time of my iddat of the death of my husband who expired on the 17th march 2007 at about 17h-18;30h.he was burried on the 18th at about 10 o'clock .

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

The laws of pertaining to the iddah of a woman whose husband passed away are as following:

If she is pregnant, then her iddah will expire upon the birth of the child.  Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an:

وَأُولَاتُ الْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ (الطلاق)

And for those having pregnancy, their term (iddah) is that they give birth to their child. (al-Talaq-4)

If she is not pregnant then her iddah will be 4 months and 10 days.  Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an:

وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنْفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا (البقرة)

Those of you who die, leaving their wives behind, they they (the wives) shall remain by themselves (in iddat) for four months and ten days. (Al-Baqarah-234)
 

If the husband has passed away on the first of a lunar month, then the 4 months will be taken according to the lunar months, even if some of the months are of 29 days.  If his demise was not on the first of a lunar month, then the months of 30 days each should be observed bring the total number of days to 130.

The iddah will start upon the demise of the husband and end exactly 130 days from that time.

Regarding your query, your iddah has expired on 25^th of July at that hour of the day in which your husband passed away, which you have stated to be around 17h-18:30h.

Ahsan al-Fatawa (5:449) H.M. Saeed

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Ml. Ehzaz Ajmeri,
Student Darul Iftaa

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa