How long is a widow's iddah, and how does it differ from a divorcee's?

When a woman's husband dies, the Quran sets her waiting period at four months and ten days, considerably longer than the three menstrual cycles typically observed after divorce, reflecting both the gravity of bereavement and the community's interest in clearly establishing whether she is pregnant before she remarries. If the widow is pregnant, her iddah instead extends until she delivers, even if that is shorter or longer than four months and ten days, following the same principle applied to divorce. During this period, a widow is generally expected to observe a degree of mourning (ihdad), which traditionally includes avoiding remarriage proposals, ornamentation, and elaborate adornment, out of respect for her late husband, though she is not confined to her home and may attend to necessary affairs. Unlike a divorced wife in a revocable iddah, a widow is not owed ongoing maintenance from her late husband's estate during this period in the same way, but she does inherit a specified share of his estate as set out in Islamic inheritance law, which operates alongside, not instead of, her iddah obligations.

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