Is the divorce considered to have occurred by an allusive utterance and explicit intention when the husband said to the wife's father: "Rather, we will complete the procedures, and I do not want to continue marital life with her, nor is there any intention of reconciliation"? If so, has the legal waiting period (iddah) ended after six menstrual cycles have passed? Or does the iddah begin from the date of the court's decision of separation? And is the wife's request to end the marital life considered Khulʿ (divorce at the wife's instance with compensation), Faskh (annulment), or Talaq (unilateral divorce by the husband), and does the iddah differ in these cases?

Divorce occurs either by the husband initiating it or by the ruling of a Muslim judge. If the husband does not utter the divorce, nor authorize someone for it, nor write it with the intention of divorce, then divorce does not occur. The husband's statement: "Rather, we will complete the procedures, and I do not want to continue marital life with her, and there is no intention of reconciliation," is an expression of his desire for divorce, not its initiation. If the expression is an indirect one, divorce does not occur by it except with intention, and the intention cannot be known except by referring back to the husband. If he acknowledges the divorce, it occurs; otherwise, it does not.

The questioner is advised to present the matter to trusted scholars at Islamic centers in her country of residence.

The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America clarified that civil divorce does not terminate a marriage Islamically unless it is documented before secular courts if the man has divorced Islamically, or by resorting to Islamic centers that serve in place of a Shar'i judiciary.

The 'iddah (waiting period) begins from the moment the divorce is considered Islamically effective. A woman's mere request for divorce does not make it khul' (divorce at the wife's instance with compensation) or faskh (annulment). Khul' occurs when the woman offers compensation to the husband, and the 'iddah for khul' and faskh is the same as the 'iddah for talaq (repudiation) according to the majority of scholars.