The Ruling on the Waiting Period in Light of Medical Advancements
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Regarding the waiting period of a woman whose husband has died, meaning her 'iddah: if she is pregnant, her 'iddah is the delivery of the fetus. Likewise, if a divorced woman is pregnant, her 'iddah is the delivery of the fetus. Now, some people say that with the advancement of medicine, we can detect pregnancy through ultrasound in a single day. Is the wisdom behind the 'iddah solely to ensure the purity of the womb? Or are there other rulings, such as honoring the right of the deceased?
Answer:
There are other aspects to the 'iddah: the purity of the womb, and also displaying grief for the deceased. Yes.
Regarding the waiting period of a woman whose husband has died, meaning her 'iddah: if she is pregnant, her 'iddah is the delivery of the fetus. Likewise, if a divorced woman is pregnant, her 'iddah is the delivery of the fetus. Now, some people say that with the advancement of medicine, we can detect pregnancy through ultrasound in a single day. Is the wisdom behind the 'iddah solely to ensure the purity of the womb? Or are there other rulings, such as honoring the right of the deceased?
Answer:
There are other aspects to the 'iddah: the purity of the womb, and also displaying grief for the deceased. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، أول كتاب العدد — islamhouse.com (24:56)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.