Must a woman who was assaulted during her waiting period ('iddah) by her possessed brother-in-law restart her 'iddah, and is the brother-in-law sinful for his action, given that he does not remember it?
If a man commits an act while unconscious, he bears no sin, for he is in the position of one who is insane, based on the Almighty’s saying: {And there is no blame upon you for what you have erred in, but [there is blame for] what your hearts intended}, and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying: "The pen has been lifted from three: from the sleeper until he awakens, from the child until he grows up, and from the insane person until he regains his sanity or consciousness." However, if he was conscious, he is sinful.
As for the iddah (waiting period): you complete the iddah for the first [marriage], then observe the iddah for the second, based on the saying in "Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat" (The Most Concise of Summaries): "If a woman observing iddah is had intercourse with due to شبهة (misapprehension), or zina (fornication/adultery), or a فاسد (invalid) marriage, she completes the iddah for the first [marriage], and her stay with the second [man] is not counted from it, then she observes iddah for the second."
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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