Husband divorcing a pregnant wife.

Q. A husband gives his wife talaaq and she finds out that she is pregnant after, what is the ruling on this?


A. In this situation, the woman’s iddah or waiting period will immediately begin and will continue until she delivers the baby. During the course of this period, the woman will continue to live in the house of the husband and he will continue to look after her needs.

When delivery takes place, both the husband and wife will go their separate paths, if the husband did not revoke the divorce during the waiting period. If he (the husband) had revoked the divorce during the term of pregnancy, then both can continue to live as husband and wife, and there will be no separation after delivery (even though the divorce is counted).

However, it should be noted that the allowance for the husband to revoke the divorce is given only in cases where the husband has given one or two revocable divorces. If he had given three divorces, or one irrevocable divorce, then, in these cases, he (the husband) will not have the allowance to return to the wife in the period of her iddah (waiting). He will simply wait for the waiting period of her iddah (which is until delivery) to come to an end, after which they will be separated.

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Waseem Khan