At-Talaaq (Divorce)

4. and those of your women who are hopeless of having monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if you have doubt about their periods, is three months; and for those who have no courses their prescribed period is three months likewise, except in case of death. And for those who are pregnant, their prescribed period is until they lay down their burden; and whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.

5. That is the Command of Allah, which He has sent down to you; and whosoever fears Allah and deeps his duty to Him, He will expiate from him his sins, and will enlarge his reward.

Proceeding with the divorce Injunctions, the blessed Verse 4 is saying that those women who do not menstruate owing to advancement in years or certain ailments are supposed to wait for a period of three months in full and pregnant women are supposed to wait until they give birth to their child or children. Then, they may remarry.

There are different Qur’anic expressions for those who fear God Almighty:

“O you who believe! Fear Allah and believe in His Messenger, He will give you a double portion of His Mercy, and He will give you a light by which you shall walk straight. And He will forgive you. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Compassionate,”1 ; “O you who believe! If you obey and fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion to judge between right and wrong (furqan) and will expiate for you your sins, and forgive you; and Allah is the Owner of the Great Bounty”2 ; “And whoever fear Allah and keeps his obligation to Him, He will make a way for him to get out from difficulties”3 .

Seemingly reference is herein made of a natural development, since the God fearing will be granted Divine Light thanks to with he is able to distinguish truth from falsehood and thereby find the way out of the entanglements. Thus, he is delivered from many a difficulty.

It is evident that Divine Injunctions are different as per different circumstances. Thus, there are different Injunctions for pregnant and menopausal women. The blessed Verse is saying that the women who do not menstruate any longer, their waiting period is three months, if you have doubts about their pregnancy.

Likewise, the women who do not have menstrual periods are supposed to keep a waiting period of three full months. It is incumbent upon the third group, the pregnant women, to lay down their burden, namely give birth to their children.

Thus, the first two groups are supposed to keep a waiting period of three months and the third group, the pregnant women, are supposed to give birth to their children and the period may take one hour or for instance eight months following the divorce.

Three possibilities have been suggested for the contextual meaning of

“if you have doubt” (in artabtum): 1. The doubt concerns the possibility of pregnancy, namely if the possibility exists regarding pregnancy after the age of menopause, fifty in ordinary women and sixty in Qurayshi ones, the woman is supposed to keep a waiting period. Although it is less probable but there are instances of its occurrence. It is worthy of note, however, that the term “doubt” (rayba) in the sense of having doubts as to pregnancy is widely attested in traditions and jurisprudential sources.4

2. Those women are herein intended who are not known whether they have reached the age of menopause.

3. The blessed Verse suggests entertaining doubt as to the Injunction. In this vein, the blessed Verse is saying that if you do not know Allah’s Injunction, His Injunction is to the effect that such women are supposed to keep a waiting period. The first exegesis sounds more befitting, since

“and those of women who have passed the age of monthly courses”

indicates that such women are menopausal. It is noteworthy, however, that those women whose menstruation stops owing to ailments and other factors are subject to the same Injunction. Such Injunction is reflected in the principle of priority or the semantic referent of the blessed Verse in question. Further details regarding the question are to be found in jurisprudential sources.

The clause

“and those of your women who have not had monthly periods” (wa ’l-llati ya’isna min al-mahidh)

may suggest that those women who have attained the age of puberty, but they do not have monthly periods, in which case, it is indubitably incumbent upon them to keep a three month waiting period. It has been also suggested that the blessed Verse makes a reference to all women who have not had monthly periods whether or not they have attained the age of puberty.

However, the majority of Shi‘i jurisprudents maintain that females prior to the age of puberty are not supposed to keep a waiting period following divorce. Some scholars disagree and substantiate their arguments with certain traditions and the contextual meaning of the blessed Verse in question is seemingly on their side.¹

The above mentioned exegesis is substantiated by the occasion of Revelation. Ubayy ibn Ka‘b said unto the Noble Prophet (S) that the waiting periods of some women was not mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. In this vein, mention was made of the wives yet to attain the age of puberty and menopause and pregnant women. Thus, the blessed Verse was revealed and stated the Injunctions as per their instances.²

It goes without saying that keeping the waiting period is required when there is possibility of pregnancy, since the blessed Verse makes a reference to menopausal women as well suggesting that the Injunction is the same for both.³

The blessed Verse closes by laying further emphasis on the question of fearing God Almighty, saying that whoever fears God Almighty, his difficulties will be removed by Him. Such difficulties may include those in this world and the Hereafter, including separation and divorce.

The blessed Verse 5 lays further emphasis on the Injunctions regarding divorce and the waiting period mentioned in the preceding Verses, saying that this is Allah’s Command sent down unto you. Whoever fears God Almighty and refrains from disobeying His Command, He will absolve him of his sins and he will be granted Great Divine Rewards.

Some Qur’anic exegetes maintain that the term

“sins” (sayyi’at)

designates minor sins and fearing God Almighty refers to abstention from committing grave sins.

Thus, abstaining from committing grave sins leads to the forgiving of minor sins.⁴ It is true that the word sayyi’at denotes minor sins at times, but the word in most of the Qur’anic Verses is employed in the sense of grave and mirnor sins⁵ . It is needless to say, however, that faith and submission to Divine Will together with doing righteous good deeds lead to the forgiving of formerly committed sins.