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When does the waiting period ("iddah") for a contingent divorce, which occurs due to the wife giving birth to her child in her family's home after the husband's statement, "If you give birth to your child in your family's home, then you are divorced," begin and end?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a man says to his wife: "If you give birth to your child at your parents' house, then you are divorced," and he intended by it exhortation, not divorce, then, according to some scholars, an expiation for a broken oath (kaffarat yameen) is incumbent upon him. However, the majority of scholars hold that divorce occurs upon the occurrence of the condition it was made contingent upon. If he intended divorce, then it occurs by agreement. Divorce occurs immediately upon birth, even if the newborn is a miscarriage in which human features are discernible. The waiting period (iddah) begins after the cessation of post-natal bleeding (nifas), and its duration is three menstrual cycles for a woman who menstruates.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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