The Purpose of Establishing Iddah (Iddat or Waiting Period for Women after Divorce), Types and Islamic Decrees Relates to It

One of the most important issues of divorce is iddah (waiting period) which has mostly the aspect of duty (taklifi). It is possible to be a devotional act. It means after the legal dissolution of a marriage, women should observe for period to permit to remarry. With respect to the words of Ahl al-Bayt and with the form of dissolution and partnership, iddah can be divided to 8 types which each of them can have different parts. In some cases which its possibility relates to the time of descending the Quran and entrance of Sunnah, it is not observed the clearness in the noble Quran and Sunnah. The reality of iddah has undisputed Islamic jurisprudential evidences and has different types and special Islamic verdicts but if it is possible to access the philosophy of iddah, perhaps through this way it is possible to answer some propounded questions. Although understanding the philosophy of the establishment of Islamic ordinances is an advantage which helps to the enhancement of man insight to the Islamic divine decrees and it has no role in the reality of the obligation of carrying out Islamic ordinances. Considering the common features of women who do not have iddah means purification and clearance of their wombs from children (to ensure the woman is not pregnant) and regarding that man (her husband) can return to her divorced wife without a new marriage contract during the period of iddah, it indicates well that the important goal of iddah is to prevent complete separation between man and woman and destruction of family. The following paper with studying the verses of the noble Quran and Islamic traditions and examining the Islamic jurisprudents’ words tries to answer the related questions to it with exploring the criterion and purpose (hikmah) of establishing iddah.