Q: Why is the waiting period not obligatory after committing fornication?
A: In matters of Deen we all depend on the Qur’aan, Hadeeth and the statements of the Fuqahaa. According to the Fuqaha, a woman will only sit in iddat after the demise of her husband or after being divorced. A woman will not sit in iddat after committing zina. Hence this will be a futile exercise to employ reasoning against the verdicts of the Fuqaha. Undoubtedly the Fuqaha do have very sound intellectual reasoning for these masaa’il but this reasoning is more easily understood by scholars and experts.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & Approved:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)