424. The restriction on women not to step out of their dwellings during Iddah.
Men are given three options to divorce their wives if they dislike them.
The wedlock between a woman and a man is not completely broken on the man declaring divorce and and cancelling his marriage. From the first declaration of divorce by the man, he has an opportunity for a reunion with the divorced wife within a time frame before she crosses her third menstrual cycle from the date of divorce, or if the wife is carrying at the time of divorce he can rejoin before she delivers the baby, says verse 65:4 of the Quran.
If the couple does not rejoin within this time frame, the wedlock between them is broken, and if they reconsider to live together, they can get married again, without any restrictions. And in case there is discordance between them after the reunion and failed to carry on living together even after all kinds of reproachments as per Islamic ethics, they can go in for a divorce again.
As stated previously they can rejoin again if they desire within the time frame specified as earlier to live together and get married again. Thus even after rejoining twice in life, and the couple does not find it good enough to live a life together, the third divorce declared at this juncture is the last and final and the couple cannot live together and the door is shut for them to live together.
But if the woman, on being divorced, enters into wedlock with a different man, and gets divorced even by that person, she is allowed to get married to her previous husband.
The period of three months after divorce the woman spends is known as Iddah.
The divorced woman remains to live in the house of her husband, and the husband is not supposed to send her out nor should the woman leave the house.
With the wedlock yet to be broken completely, the right to remain in the house of the husband rests with the woman. This is found in the verse of the Quran that says ‘Do not send your wives out of their houses’. Since the wedlock is not completely broken between the two, the right to remain in the houses of their husbands rests with them, which is the reason Allah mentions as ‘their houses’.
The condition that she should not leave the house implies her husband who divorced her is responsible for her immediate expenses.
The Almighty explains in the Quran the reason the divorced woman needs to stay back in the house of the husband. The reason being He would create an amicable situation between them.
The chances of separation between them becomes stronger if the divorced wife leaves immediately for her mother’s house, and better opportunities are available to them when they live together to dissolve the divorce between them.
To offer the couple a chance to rejoin, does the Almighty say in the Quran not send out the divorced woman from the house immediately, and asks the women not to leave either.
If the reason for divorce happens to be an immoral act by the wife, does the Quran say she can be sent out of the house.
The Almighty says in the next verse, the couple can rejoin at the completion of the Iddah period, and if they cannot reconcile, they are free to opt for divorce. Hence this happens to be the final and permanent separation; the wife can no more afford to live in the house of the husband.
Misunderstanding this verse and the five verses that follow it some have decreed that providing the divorced woman with her requirements for a period of three months is sufficient.
They fail to realize the amount of money they have fixed as compensation is just the expenses she would incur while the other two chances to rejoin are still available to be exhausted.
Please refer to points 69, 360, 404 for more details about Iddah.
And to know more details about divorce please refer to explanation points, 66, 69, 70, 74, 386, 402
