When exactly does my iddah end: when my third period starts, or when it finishes?

Sources

1. 1

   al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:472

   Open: al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:472 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 1

   (وَاعْتَدَّتْ) الْمُطَلَّقَةُ (بِطُهْرِ الطَّلَاقِ) أَيْ بِالطُّهْرِ الَّذِي طَلَّقَ فِيهِ (وَإِنْ لَحْظَةً) يَسِيرَةً بَلْ لَوْ قَالَ لَهَا: أَنْت طَالِقٌ فَنَزَلَ الدَّمُ عَقِبَ النُّطْقِ بِالْقَافِ بِلَا فَصْلٍ حَسِبَتْهُ طُهْرًا (فَتَحِلُّ بِأَوَّلِ حَيْضَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ) بِالنِّسْبَةِ إلَى هَذِهِ أَيْ بِمُجَرَّدِ نُزُولِ الدَّمِ إنْ طَلُقَتْ طَاهِرًا؛ لِأَنَّ الْأَصْلَ عَدَمُ انْقِطَاعِهِ بَعْدَ نُزُولِهِ (أَوْ) بِأَوَّلِ حَيْضَةِ (الرَّابِعَةِ إنْ طَلُقَتْ بِكَحَيْضٍ) … (وَهَلْ يَنْبَغِي أَنْ لَا تُعَجِّلَ) الْعَقْدَ (بِرُؤْيَتِهِ) أَيْ الدَّمِ فِي أَوَّلِ الْحَيْضَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ لِاحْتِمَالِ انْقِطَاعِهِ بَلْ تَصْبِرُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ لَهُ بَالٌ وَهُوَ قَوْلُ أَشْهَبَ أَوْ لَا يَنْبَغِي، وَهُوَ قَوْلُ ابْنِ الْقَاسِمِ لِحِلِّهَا بِرُؤْيَةِ الدَّمِ كَمَا تَقَدَّمَ وَهَلْ الْخِلَافُ حَقِيقِيٌّ بِنَاءً عَلَى حَمْلِ يَنْبَغِي عَلَى الْوُجُوبِ أَوْ لَا بِنَاءً عَلَى حَمْلِهِ عَلَى النَّدْبِ وَابْنُ الْقَاسِمِ لَا يُخَالِفُهُ؛ لِأَنَّ قَوْلَهُ تَحِلُّ لَا يُنَافِي النَّدْبَ (تَأْوِيلَانِ) الْأَظْهَرُ الْوِفَاقُ

   The divorced woman counts the purity in which she was divorced, even if only a moment. So she becomes free at the start of the third menstruation, at the first appearance of the blood, if she was divorced while pure; or at the start of the fourth, if she was divorced during menstruation or the like (postnatal bleeding). Should she not hurry to the marriage contract on seeing it, because it might stop, but wait a day or a meaningful part of a day (the view of Ashhab), or is that not needed (the view of Ibn al-Qāsim, since she is free on seeing the blood)? Two readings are given of whether they truly differ; the more apparent is that they agree.

2. 2

   al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 253

   Open: al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 253 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 2

   وعدة حرة ذات أقراء ثلاثة والقرء الطهر فإن طلقت طاهرا انقضت بالطعن في حيضة ثالثة أو حائضا ففي رابعة وفي قول تشترط يوم وليلة بعد الطعن

   The iddah of a free woman who has qurūʾ is three, and the qurʾ is purity (ṭuhr). If she was divorced while pure, it ends on entering a third menstruation; if while menstruating, on entering a fourth. In one view, a day and a night (of bleeding) after entering it is required.

3. 3

   Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:403

   Open: Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:403 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 3

   (وَتَنْقَطِعُ) الرَّجْعَةُ (إذَا طَهُرَتْ مِنْ الْحَيْضِ الْأَخِيرِ) يَعُمُّ الْأَمَةَ (لِعَشَرَةِ) أَيَّامٍ مُطْلَقًا (وَإِنْ لَمْ تَغْتَسِلْ وَلِأَقَلَّ لَا) تَنْقَطِعُ (حَتَّى تَغْتَسِلَ) وَلَوْ بِسُؤْرِ حِمَارٍ لِاحْتِمَالِ طَهَارَتِهِ مَعَ وُجُودِ الْمُطْلَقِ، لَكِنْ لَا تُصَلِّي لِاحْتِمَالِ النَّجَاسَةِ وَلَا تَتَزَوَّجُ احْتِيَاطًا (أَوْ بِمُضِيِّ) جَمِيعِ (وَقْتِ الصَّلَاةِ)

   The right to take her back ends when she becomes pure from the last menstruation: if the bleeding lasted ten days (the school's longest menstruation), even if she has not bathed; if it lasted less, it does not end until she bathes (ghusl), or a whole prayer time passes (so that the prayer becomes a debt on her).

4. 4

   Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:103

   Open: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:103 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 4

   (فَإِذَا اغْتَسَلَتْ مِنْ الْحَيْضَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ، أُبِيحَتْ لِلْأَزْوَاجِ) حَكَى أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنُ حَامِدٍ، فِي هَذِهِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ رِوَايَتَيْنِ: إحْدَاهُمَا، أَنَّهَا فِي الْعِدَّةِ مَا لَمْ تَغْتَسِلْ، فَيُبَاحُ لِزَوْجِهَا ارْتِجَاعُهَا، وَلَا يَحِلُّ لِغَيْرِهِ نِكَاحُهَا

   "When she has bathed (ghusl) from the third menstruation, she is permitted to marry." Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥāmid reported two narrations on this. The first: she remains in the iddah as long as she has not bathed, so her husband may take her back and no one else may marry her.

5. 5

   Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:104

   Open: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:104 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 5

   وَالرِّوَايَةُ الثَّانِيَةُ أَنَّ الْعِدَّةَ تَنْقَضِي بِطُهْرِهَا مِنْ الْحَيْضَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ وَانْقِطَاعِ دَمِهَا … وَإِنْ قُلْنَا: الْقُرُوءُ الْأَطْهَارُ. فَطَلَّقَهَا وَهِيَ طَاهِرٌ، انْقَضَتْ عِدَّتُهَا بِرُؤْيَةِ الدَّمِ مِنْ الْحَيْضَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ، وَإِنْ طَلَّقَهَا حَائِضًا، انْقَضَتْ عِدَّتُهَا بِرُؤْيَةِ الدَّمِ مِنْ الْحَيْضَةِ الرَّابِعَةِ

   The second narration: the iddah ends with her becoming pure from the third menstruation and her bleeding stopping. And if we say the qurūʾ are purities: if he divorced her while she was pure, her iddah ends when she sees the blood of the third menstruation; if he divorced her while she was menstruating, when she sees the blood of the fourth.