# What does Quran 65:4 say about the waiting period for women whose periods have stopped?

*Surah al-Talaq 65:4: the women who have despaired of menstruation and the three-month iddah*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/t-x4lyns2ve/s/5/
- Date: 2019-07-25 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (15:33–18:09)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-X4Lyns2vE&t=933s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/t-x4lyns2ve/

**Topics:** Divorce; Contested verses; Tafsir and verse study

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Women who have despaired of menstruation wait three months, a rule Mufti Abu Layth reads as addressed to men who are unsure whether a woman has reached the menopause, so that pregnancy can be excluded; the pregnant wait until childbirth.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth holds that the doubt in 65:4 is the men's doubt about whether a woman has reached the menopause, in which case her iddah is a flat three months so that pregnancy can be excluded.

**Evidence, his words at 16:39:** “but what makes sense is that if you are in doubt as in the men about whether they have had the menopause or not” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-X4Lyns2vE&t=999s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads the verse the objector starts from: 'those women who have despaired of menstruation, if you are in doubt, their iddah is three months'. He notes that the verse does not say menopause but despairing of the menstrual cycle, and that the doubt is addressed to the men, with a masculine plural pronoun. He reports two readings of the doubt: that it concerns whether the woman's menses have really ceased, or that it concerns whether the iddah has begun or been completed; he finds the first more sensible, since men at the time would not have known whether a woman had reached the menopause. In case of such doubt the iddah is simply three months rather than three cycles, which he says gives ample time to settle whether there is a pregnancy. He continues to 'and those who have not menstruated' and to the pregnant, whose iddah lasts until childbirth, with the closing promise that whoever is mindful of God is given ease.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 65:4 (those who have despaired of menstruation, if you are in doubt, their iddah is three months, and those who have not menstruated; the pregnant until they give birth): https://quran.com/65/4
- iddah (waiting period after divorce)
- mahid (menstruation)

## Transcript (machine tier, 15:33–18:09)

[15:22] Allah says what is nominal maha demon is eco inert optim 48.1 and those women by the way who had reached their menopause right but he doesn't say menopause it says who had despaired from their menstrual cycle yeah it's not those women who had disappeared from their menstrual cycle in a septum if you are in doubt now here there's a question what if you are in

[16:00] doubt about what so the more faceting are in to two camps about what this means when God is saying if you are in doubt because he's not saying this to the women he made it up to them to the men it's a masculine pronoun plural it's not any tab tuna that would be to the women but it's saying and those women who have despaired from the menstrual cycle in a tub tongue if you men are in doubt now what does that mean if you men are in doubt about what so the scholars say either that you are in doubt that

[16:39] whether they have despaired from the from the menstrual cycle meaning whether their menses have completely stopped if you are in doubt about that some people have said maybe this doubt is referring to the eighth day if you are in doubt about has the ada began or not has it been completed or not but what makes sense is that if you are in doubt as in the men about whether they have had the menopause or not because think about it back then they weren't really too sure and the men what do they know

[17:15] so if they're in doubt for it dot or NASA Lassiter a short then they ada is three months let them stay for just three months non-stop let that be the idea okay let that simply be the ether that is not going to be three menstrual cycles and let it just be three months because are they pregnant or not or whatever you can it's an ample opportunity for all the factors with men before will Allah meeya Hitler and those

[17:51] who are not having these cycles what will hurtle a man and those who are appear to be pregnant agile owner in Havana Hamlin Hamlin the ADA is until childbirth or may attack in La Jolla jalalahu min amri hero and indeed if you are mindful of God he will create easily now this is the verse that that they are claiming allows pedophilia we let me tell you this part that said

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment T-X4Lyns2vE/s/5. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/t-x4lyns2ve/s/5/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.