WHY ONE WOMEN HAVE TO SET IN IDDAT FOR FOUR MONTHS AFTER HER HUSBAND'S DEATH
Iddat
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone,
and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of
His Messengers.
Allah says in the Holy Quran
Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah
verse 234:
If those of you, who die, leave wives behind; they should abstain (from marriage) for four
months and ten days. Then, when their waiting
term expires, they are free to do
whatever they choose for themselves,
provided that it is decent. You
shall not be answerable for this. Allah
is fully aware of what all of you do.
Thus the reason a woman, who truly believes in Allah and the
Last Day, must sit in ‘iddat’ for the prescribed period because it is the command
of Allah Subhanah.
And we as believers must believe that each and every command of Allah is
based on His Perfect Knowledge and Wisdom.
We are also allowed to search and understand the wisdom, so that we may be
able to obey every command of our Lord and Creator wholeheartedly. The main reasons for this waiting period
are:
- When
the woman performs the waiting period of four months and ten days as
commanded by Allah,
it will become absolutely clear if the woman is indeed
pregnant or not. This pregnancy
will effect the inheritance as well as the legal
basis of the baby.
- During
this period, the
woman is advised to abstain from any sort of display of happiness and
celebration, and to mourn the death of her life-partner.
- This
period decreed by Allah will also allow the woman to cope emotionally with
the huge loss that she has suffered.
- It
will also
be a means of huge reward and ‘ajr’ from Allah Subhanah when the widow obeys this command from Allah
in honor of her dead husband.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in Islam,
Wister