Bohra repeating iddah
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
As-salaamu-aliykum,
Ramzan Mubarak to you! Please read the below episode and the questions follow:
-
A lady was about
to come out of her Iddat peroid and it was her last day.As she was going
towards the bathroom for her ghusl, a young boy passed her way. The concerned
members went to ask Aqa Molla on what should be done.
Aqa Molla said
that the boy who passed the lady's way is to be questioned on what he saw. On
questioning the young boy, he said he saw a woman dressed in full white
clothes. To this reply Aqa Molla ordered the lady to re-sit the Iddat period
all over again.
Q1.Why did he take
such a decision?
Q2.Can this be
Islamically justified with proof from the Holy Quran?
Q3.What about the
lady who underwent this tragedy?Couldnt she have a say to this matter? Werent
her feelings considered?
Q4.Do you think
the decision taken was right according to Islam?
Q5.Can you please
shade some more light on "Iddat", what to do and not etc...etc
Thankyou.
Khudahafiz
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Bohra repeating iddah
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship
but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant
and the seal of His Messengers.
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqrah verse 234: If any of you
die and leave widows behind they shall wait concerning themselves four months
and ten days: when they have fulfilled their term
there is no blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable
manner. And Allah is well acquainted
with what ye do.
The sitting of a believing woman
in ‘iddah’ or waiting period for four months and ten days is a direct Command
of the Merciful Lord; and thus
obligatory on the believing woman who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day.
Allah Subhanah has prescribed
one iddah for the widow of the believers;
and no man has a right to declare that a woman has to repeat the iddah for any reason whatsoever!
Some misguided sects have made
this ‘iddah’ period a form of torture for the believing woman, and have introduced many things in it which
have absolutely nothing to do with Islam!
If a woman who is in Iddah has absolutely no one to take care of her
daily needs, there is no harm if she
even goes to the markets to buy her groceries;
or visit the doctor in state of emergency, etc.; which have absolutely no effect on her iddah
or waiting period.
The misguided sect’s
self-declared leaders and priests, who
have ordered the believing woman to repeat her iddah again just because some
non-mehram person or child has seen her accidentally, have absolutely no basis for their decisions from the Quran or
Sunnah, and will be brought forth as
criminals in the Court of Allah Subhanah for declaring something they had no
right or authority to declare!
The iddah period for a widow who
is not pregnant is four months and ten days;
and if she is pregnant the iddah period is until the delivery of her
child. No matter what happens, the iddah period cannot be repeated or
increased in the least!
Q-1: Why did he take such a
decision?
It is obvious that any person
who declares that a believing woman has to re-sit her iddah, has not based his decision from the clear
guidance and teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. Thus this decision would not be binding on the true
believers, who sincerely believe in
Allah and the Last Day.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 31:They have made their scholars and their
monks as their ‘Rabbs’ besides Allah!
Narrated Hadrat Adi
bin Hatim (r.a.), who was formerly a
Christian, that he came upon the
Prophet (saws) and said: “This verse (9:31 quoted above) accuses us of making
our scholars and our monks our Lords besides Allah. We do not worship our scholars.”
The Messenger of Allah (saws) replied: “Is it not a fact that you accept
as unlawful what they declare as unlawful, and lawful what they declare as lawful?” I admitted that they did.
The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: “What is that other than making
them their rabbs besides Allah?”
Related by
Tirmidhi, Ahmad and Ibn Jareer.
Q-2: Can this be Islamically
justified with proof from the Holy Quran?
There is absolutely not a shred
of evidence or proof in the Holy Quran or in the Sunnah of the Messenger of
Allah (saws) that would justify a believing woman widow to re-sit or extend her
iddah period for any reason whatsoever!
Q-3: What about the lady who underwent this tragedy?
Couldnt she have a
say to this matter? Werent her feelings considered?
The believing woman absolutely
should not have obeyed the decision of the self-made priest who commanded her
to re-sit her iddah, without asking for
proof from the Quran and Sunnah which he would never have been able to
provide!
If the woman obeyed the command
of the priest and re-sat her iddah,
then she, in her ignorance, would have accepted the command of the
priest above the Divine Command of Allah Subhanah; and that would constitute her making this priest her ‘rabb’ or
lord instead of the Real Rabb and Lord,
Allah Subhanah wa Taala.
Q-4: Do you think the decision
taken was right according to Islam?
The decision to re-sit the iddah
is absolutely against the clear guidance and teachings of the Glorious Quran
and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws); and must be immediately rejected by the believers who truly
believe in Allah and the Last Day.
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 44 (part):If any do fail to judge by what Allah
hath Revealed, they are indeed the ‘Kaaferoon’ (disbelievers).
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 45 (part):If any do fail to judge by what
Allah hath Revealed, they are indeed
the ‘Dhalimoon’ (wrong-doers).
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 47
(part):If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath Revealed, they are indeed the ‘Faasiqoon’
(transgressors).
Q-5: Can you please shade some more light on "Iddat", what to do and not etc...etc
The rules for observing the
waiting period or ‘iddah’ and period of mourning for a widow are as follows:
The widow should not wear
fashionable or attractive clothing for the term of her iddah; neither apply perfume; nor apply make-up, etc. She must be dressed in plain, simple and humble clothing for the period of
the ‘iddah’.
She should not leave the house
unless there is an emergency or a basic need,
which no one can do for her. Example: she may go to a
hospital if ill, or she may go out to
get her food and necessities if there is no one to get it for her, etc.
She should be in a genuine state
of mourning, remember Allah much, and pray and supplicate Allah Subhanah for
her deceased partner and herself.
There is no particular
clothing, or a particular color of
clothing that she needs to wear like only black, or only white, etc. Any
basic, simple, humble and plain clothing will suffice. Neither is there any restriction that she
cannot see the moon, or the mirror,
etc. which some people try to enforce
on the widow in the name of Islam.
These have absolutely no basis or evidence from the guidance of Allah
and His Messenger (saws).
Whatever written of Truth and benefit
is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of
me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
Burhan