a specified period of time that must elapse before a Muslim widow or divorcee may legitimately remarry. The Qurʾān (2:228) prescribes that a menstruating woman have three monthly periods before contracting a new marriage; the required delay for a nonmenstruating woman is three lunar months. A widow’s delay is 4 months and 10 days. These stipulations serve to remove all ambiguity about paternity should pregnancy have occurred shortly before the couple’s separation or the death of the husband. If a woman becomes pregnant before the divorce or separation, she may remarry after the birth of her child. The child’s true father is consequently also the legal father. In the case of divorced partners, the concept of ʿiddah also provides an opportunity for reestablishing the marriage, but no reunion can take place until a period of waiting removes all doubt about existing pregnancy.
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