The Waiting Period of the Slave Woman and the Umm al-Walad

The questioner:
And is the waiting period of a slave woman or a *umm al-walad* the same as that of a free woman, or what is it?

The Shaykh:
No, the slave woman, no. The free woman is required to observe a waiting period of four months and ten days if she was a wife; she has four months and ten days. If she is pregnant, it is until she gives birth. As for the *umm al-walad*, if her master dies, she is required to wait for one menstrual cycle if he used to have intercourse with her during his lifetime. She is not like a wife. The *umm al-walad* observes a waiting period of only one menstrual cycle, according to the correct view. This is not the ruling for wives. If a man takes a slave woman and has a child with her, and then he dies, she does not have the waiting period of wives, but she must wait for one menstrual cycle. Then she may marry afterwards, like the rest of the believers, whoever is suitable.

The questioner:
The Truth, Blessed and Exalted is He, says.

The Shaykh:
The slave woman has a waiting period, but it is half the waiting period of a free woman. So if he had two wives, one free and one slave, the free woman has four months and ten days, so the slave woman has two months and five days. Yes.