How should a divorced woman spend her divorce period?

A Brief Description of the Question: 

How a divorced woman should spend her divorce period "Iddah"? Some people told me that woman cannot go out of a house for three months. She cannot talk with anybody.

The Answer: 

First of all, it is not true that she cannot talk with anyone.

A woman who has been waiting for the iddah of divorcement, the maintenance payment is obligatory upon her husband. 

For this reason, it is not necessary for her to go out. It is her husband’s responsibility to look after her. “And turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they (themselves) leave” (At-Talaq, 65/1)

A woman, who has been waiting for the iddah of death, may have to go out for working because of the death of her husband (maintenance payer).

IDDAH

The definite number and the latest limit for it. Community. According to the Islamic Law(Fiqh), the period of time that a woman must wait to remarry as a consequence of nullification of her marriage with her husband because of death, divorce or one of the reasons of annulment.
The time for waiting (Iddah) can change depending on the reason why a marriage ends.

1) If the marriage ends as a consequence of the death of the husband, the time for Iddah is four months and ten days. As a matter of fact, this Ayah (verse) in the Quran explains the issue “Those of you who die and leave wives behind, let these wait by themselves for four months and ten days al-Baqarah, 2/234).

2) The iddah time for a woman who is pregnant is till she gives birth to. The rule is fixed no matter if the marriage ends because of divorce or the death of the husband. In the Ayah, “And those who are heavy with a child their appointed time is when they have laid down their burden”  ( at-Talaq, 65/4).

If the pregnancy has occurred outside marriage and if, of course, the woman wants to marry the father of her child, she can marry immediately. According to Hanafis and Shafis, she can marry immediately but the intercourse is delayed till the birth. In a relationship outside marriage, if it is not known whether the woman is pregnant or not and if she wants to get married to another man, she must wait till she menstruates for once. If the woman never menstruates because of her age, it is enough for her to wait for a month.

3)  The waiting time for a divorced woman, if she is not pregnant, is the time for three periods. It takes place in about three months for women who have normal periods:
“Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three Periods” (al-Baqarah 2/228)

4) The waiting time for younger and older ones who do not have periods is three months: “As for your women who have despaired of further menstruating, if you are in doubt, then their waiting period is three months as well as those who have not yet menstruated.” (at-Talaq, 65/4). Accordingly, the waiting time for women who have not menstruated yet and have despaired of further menstruating is three months after divorcing.

If an official marriage ends with a returnable one or an irrevocable one, the woman has a right to demand alimony. Namely, the husband she divorced must look after her. However, if the marriage ends as a consequence of her husband’s death, the woman cannot take alimony because the man in charge of giving alimony is dead. The goods he left behind, according to the rules of inheritance, belong to heirs of him.   

His wife, if she has children from her husband who died, has the right to take one-eighth of the inheritance, if she does not, she takes one-fourth. It is possible for her to maintain her life by using that right of her instead of demanding alimony. Moreover, if the woman has goods or property belonging to her or she can take mahr (precious things or Money she took while marrying) that she did not take before and they are the protective rights for women.

In that case, the effects of marriage keep on during the waiting time. After the waiting time, the relationship between the woman and the man is cut off. If a man divorces a woman with three Talaqs, it is not possible for him to remarry her without Hullah anymore. If he divorces her for one time or twice, spouses can be reconciled in the returnable divorcing during the waiting time and there is no need to re-do the marriage contract. After the waiting time (Iddah), the returnable divorce turns into a fixed one. But spouses can get married again with a new marriage contract. The marriage goes one with two rights of divorce if only one divorce has taken place, and with one right of divorce if two divorces have taken place.

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