Question:
Does a miscarriage terminate iddah?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, a pregnant woman’s iddah (waiting period) is the duration of pregnancy until delivery.
If a woman experiences a miscarriage, the state of the foetus will determine whether the iddah has expired or not. If the foetus’ limbs were partially formed, then the iddah will expire due to such a miscarriage.
If the foetus was not formed at all, the woman will have to complete the waiting period otherwise. Namely, three menstruation cycles, three months or 4 months and 10 days in the event of death.[1]
And Allah Ta’ālā Knows Best
[1] وَشَرْطُ انْقِضَاءِ هَذِهِ الْعِدَّةِ أَنْ يَكُونَ مَا وَضَعَتْ قَدْ اسْتَبَانَ خَلْقُهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَبِنْ خَلْقُهُ رَأْسًا بِأَنْ أَسْقَطَتْ عَلَقَةً أَوْ مُضْغَةً لَمْ تَنْقَضِ الْعِدَّةُ كَذَا فِي الْبَدَائِعِ. (الهندية ج 1 ص 529 الرشيدية)
إِذَا أَسْقَطَتْ سِقْطًا إنْ اسْتَبَانَ بَعْضُ خَلْقِهِ انْقَضَتْ بِهِ الْعِدَّةُ لِأَنَّهُ وُلِدَ وَإِلَّا فَلَا (حاشية ابن عابدين ج 3 ص 512 أيج أيم سعيد)
