The Waiting Period of the Divorced Woman Who Has Been Consummated and the Woman Who Has Divorced Herself

This is a question received from a questioner of Eritrean nationality, Sahim Hilal Muhammad. He says in his message: A woman’s husband traveled away from her while she was pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for him while he was absent from her. He was ill during his journey, and the woman was not receiving any expenses from him. After a period of time, she requested a khul' divorce from him while he was absent, and he divorced her before he had intercourse with her after the birth of the child. Does this woman have a waiting period for her former husband, or is the waiting period dropped from her because of the lack of intercourse between them after the birth of the child? Please inform us; may Allah reward you.
Answer: Divorced women have a waiting period, even if the husband left her for a long time without having intercourse with her during the pregnancy and after the pregnancy. This is based on the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) : [al-Baqarah:228]. This encompasses all divorced women with whom intercourse has taken place. So, any woman with whom her husband has had intercourse and then divorced her has a waiting period, even if his divorce of her was after the birth and he did not have intercourse with her after that. She must observe the waiting period due to the generality of the noble verse and what came in its meaning. However, the scholars differed on whether the woman who has divorced herself (khalu'ah) observes a waiting period of three months or one menstruation. This one you asked about is a woman who has divorced herself. If she presented him with money and gave him money until he divorced her, the correct view is that one menstruation is sufficient for her. This is based on the hadith of al-Rabi' bint Mu'awdh, when she divorced her husband, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to observe a waiting period of one menstruation. Similarly, it came in the hadith of Thabit ibn Qays. The point is that the woman who has divorced herself, whose husband divorced her in exchange for money, if she observes a waiting period of three menstruations, that is better and more cautious, and it is a way to avoid the disagreement among scholars. If she observes a waiting period of one menstruation, that is sufficient for her according to the more correct of the two opinions of the people of knowledge, because of what is established in the Sunnah regarding this, as mentioned. And success is from Allah. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.