I lost a pregnancy after the divorce. Does that end my iddah, or do I keep counting?

Sources

1. 1

   Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:119–120

   Open: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:119–120 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 1

   وَالْحَمْلُ الَّذِي تَنْقَضِي بِهِ الْعِدَّةُ، مَا يَتَبَيَّنُ فِيهِ شَيْءٌ مِنْ خَلْقِ الْإِنْسَانِ، حُرَّةً كَانَتْ أَوْ أَمَةً وَجُمْلَةُ ذَلِكَ، أَنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ إذَا أَلْقَتْ بَعْدَ فُرْقَةِ زَوْجِهَا شَيْئًا، لَمْ يَخْلُ مِنْ خَمْسَةِ أَحْوَالٍ: أَحَدُهَا، أَنْ تَضَعَ مَا بَانَ فِيهِ خَلْقُ الْآدَمِيِّ، مِنْ الرَّأْسِ وَالْيَدِ وَالرِّجْلِ، فَهَذَا تَنْقَضِي بِهِ الْعِدَّةُ، بِلَا خِلَافٍ بَيْنَهُمْ. قَالَ ابْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ أَجْمَعَ كُلُّ مَنْ نَحْفَظُ عَنْهُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ، عَلَى أَنَّ عِدَّةَ الْمَرْأَةِ تَنْقَضِي بِالسَّقْطِ إذَا عُلِمَ أَنَّهُ وَلَدٌ، وَمِمَّنْ نَحْفَظُ عَنْهُ ذَلِكَ: الْحَسَنُ وَابْنُ سِيرِينَ وَشُرَيْحٌ وَالشَّعْبِيُّ وَالنَّخَعِيُّ وَالزُّهْرِيُّ وَالثَّوْرِيُّ وَمَالِكٌ وَالشَّافِعِيُّ وَأَحْمَدُ وَإِسْحَاقُ … الْحَالُ الرَّابِعُ، إذَا أَلْقَتْ مُضْغَةً لَا صُورَةَ فِيهَا، فَشَهِدَ ثِقَاتٌ مِنْ الْقَوَابِلِ أَنَّهُ مُبْتَدَأُ خَلْقِ آدَمِيٍّ، فَاخْتُلِفَ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ … الْحَالُ الْخَامِسُ، أَنْ تَضَعَ مُضْغَةً لَا صُورَةَ فِيهَا، وَلَمْ تَشْهَدْ الْقَوَابِلُ بِأَنَّهَا مُبْتَدَأُ خَلْقِ آدَمِيٍّ، فَهَذَا لَا تَنْقَضِي بِهِ عِدَّةٌ، وَلَا تَصِيرُ بِهِ أُمَّ وَلَدٍ؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَثْبُتْ كَوْنُهُ وَلَدًا بِبَيِّنَةٍ وَلَا مُشَاهَدَةٍ، فَأَشْبَهَ الْعَلَقَةَ، فَلَا تَنْقَضِي الْعِدَّةُ بِوَضْعِ مَا قَبْلَ الْمُضْغَةِ بِحَالٍ، سَوَاءٌ كَانَ نُطْفَةً أَوْ عَلَقَةً، وَسَوَاءٌ قِيلَ: إنَّهُ مُبْتَدَأُ خَلْقِ آدَمِيٍّ أَوْ لَمْ يُقَلْ

   The pregnancy whose delivery ends the iddah is one in which something of human form shows. If she delivers what has the human form clear, head, hand and foot, the iddah ends, with no disagreement among them; Ibn al-Mundhir: all the scholars we know agreed that a miscarried fetus ends the iddah if it is known to be a child (among them Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad). If it is a lump of flesh with no form, and trustworthy midwives testify it is the beginning of a human, the narrations from Aḥmad differ. If it has no form and they do not testify, it does not end the iddah; nor does anything before the lump-of-flesh stage, whether a drop or a clot.

2. 2

   Qurʾān, al-Ṭalāq 65:4

   Open: Qurʾān, al-Ṭalāq 65:4 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 2

   وَٱلَّـٰٓـِٔى يَئِسْنَ مِنَ ٱلْمَحِيضِ مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ إِنِ ٱرْتَبْتُمْ فَعِدَّتُهُنَّ ثَلَـٰثَةُ أَشْهُرٍ وَٱلَّـٰٓـِٔى لَمْ يَحِضْنَ ۚ وَأُو۟لَـٰتُ ٱلْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَن يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ مِنْ أَمْرِهِۦ يُسْرًا

   And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allāh - He will make for him of his matter ease.

3. 3

   al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 254

   Open: al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 254 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 3

   عدة الحامل بوضعه بشرط نسبته إلى ذي العدة ولو احتمالا كمنفي بلعان وانفصال كله حتى ثاني توأمين ومتى تخلل دون ستة أشهر فتوأمان وتنقضي بميت لا علقة وبمضغة فيها صورة آدمي خفية أخبر بها القوابل فإن لم يكن صورة وقلن هي أصل آدمي انتقضت على المذهب

   The iddah of a pregnant woman ends with the delivery, on condition that the child is attributable to the man whose iddah it is, and the whole of it comes out. It ends with a stillborn child, not with a clot (ʿalaqah), and with a lump of flesh (muḍghah) in which a hidden human form is reported by midwives; if there is no form but they say it is the beginning of a human being, it ends, on the relied-upon view of the school.

4. 4

   al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf al-Qināʿ ʿan Matn al-Iqnāʿ (Ḥanbalī), 5:413

   Open: al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf al-Qināʿ ʿan Matn al-Iqnāʿ (Ḥanbalī), 5:413 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 4

   فَإِنْ وَضَعَتْ مُضْغَةً لَا يَتَبَيَّنُ فِيهَا شَيْءٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ) أَيْ خَلْقِ الْإِنْسَانِ (فَذَكَرَ ثِقَاتٌ مِنْ النِّسَاءِ أَنَّهُ مَبْدَأُ خَلْقِ آدَمِيٍّ لَمْ تَنْقَضِ بِهِ الْعِدَّةُ … لَكِنْ لَوْ وَضَعَتْ مُضْغَةً لَمْ يَتَبَيَّنْ) أَيْ يَظْهَرْ (فِيهَا الْخَلْقُ فَشَهِدَتْ ثِقَاتٌ مِنْ الْقَوَابِلِ أَنَّ فِيهَا صُورَةً خَفِيَّةً بَانَ بِهَا أَنَّهَا خِلْقَةُ آدَمِيٍّ انْقَضَتْ بِهِ الْعِدَّةُ

   If she delivers a lump of flesh in which nothing of the human form shows, and trustworthy women say it is the beginning of a human being, the iddah does not end by it. But if it is a lump of flesh in which trustworthy midwives testify there is a hidden form showing it is human, the iddah ends by it.

5. 5

   Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:511

   Open: Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:511 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 5

   وَالْمُرَادُ بِهِ الْحَمْلُ الَّذِي اسْتَبَانَ بَعْضُ خَلْقِهِ، أَوْ كُلُّهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَبِنْ بَعْضُهُ لَمْ تَنْقَضِ الْعِدَّةُ

   The pregnancy [whose delivery ends the iddah] means one in which some or all of the human form has become distinct; if none of it has become distinct, the iddah does not end.

6. 6

   al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:474

   Open: al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:474 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 6

   وَعِدَّةُ الْحَامِلِ) حُرَّةً أَوْ أَمَةً (فِي وَفَاةٍ أَوْ طَلَاقٍ وَضْعُ حَمْلِهَا كُلِّهِ … وَإِنْ) كَانَ الْحَمْلُ (دَمًا اجْتَمَعَ) وَعَلَامَةُ كَوْنِهِ حَمْلًا أَنَّهُ إذَا صُبَّ عَلَيْهِ الْمَاءُ الْحَارُّ لَمْ يَذُبْ

   The iddah of a pregnant woman, after death or divorce, is the delivery of all of her pregnancy, even if what she carried was gathered blood; its sign of being a pregnancy is that it does not dissolve when hot water is poured on it.