ٱلْبَقَرَة : ٢٢٨

  • وَٱلۡمُطَلَّقَٰتُ And the women who are divorced
  • يَتَرَبَّصۡنَ shall wait
  • بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ concerning themselves
  • ثَلَٰثَةَ (for) three
  • قُرُوٓءٖۚ monthly periods
  • وَلَا And (it is) not
  • يَحِلُّ lawful
  • لَهُنَّ for them
  • أَن that
  • يَكۡتُمۡنَ they conceal
  • مَا what
  • خَلَقَ (has been) created
  • ٱللَّهُ (by) Allah
  • فِيٓ in
  • أَرۡحَامِهِنَّ their wombs
  • إِن if
  • كُنَّ they
  • يُؤۡمِنَّ believe
  • بِٱللَّهِ in Allah
  • وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ and the Day
  • ٱلۡأٓخِرِۚ [the] Last
  • وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ And their husbands
  • أَحَقُّ (have) better right
  • بِرَدِّهِنَّ to take them back
  • فِي in
  • ذَٰلِكَ that (period)
  • إِنۡ if
  • أَرَادُوٓاْ they wish
  • إِصۡلَٰحٗاۚ (for) reconciliation
  • وَلَهُنَّ And for them (wives)
  • مِثۡلُ (is the) like
  • ٱلَّذِي (of) that which
  • عَلَيۡهِنَّ (is) on them
  • بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِۚ in a reasonable manner
  • وَلِلرِّجَالِ and for the men
  • عَلَيۡهِنَّ over them (wives)
  • دَرَجَةٞۗ (is) a degree
  • وَٱللَّهُ And Allah
  • عَزِيزٌ (is) All-Mighty
  • حَكِيمٌ All-Wise
Divorced women remain in waiting [i.e., do not remarry] for three periods,1 and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allāh has created in their wombs if they believe in Allāh and the Last Day. And their husbands have more right to take them back in this [period] if they want reconciliation.2 And due to them [i.e., the wives] is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable.3 But the men [i.e., husbands] have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority]. And Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise.
Footnotes
1 Either menstrual periods or periods of purity between menstruation. See also 65:1-7.
2 The husband may return her to himself during the ʿiddah period of a first and second divorce without a new marriage contract.
3 The wife has specific rights upon her husband, just as the husband has rights upon her.
Divorced women shall wait by themselves, before remarrying, for three periods (quroo'in is the plural of qar'), of purity or menstruation - these are two different opinions - which begin from the moment of divorce. This [stipulation] applies to those who have been sexually penetrated but not to those otherwise, on account of His saying, there shall be no [waiting] period for you to reckon against them [Q. 33:49]. The waiting period for immature or menopausal women is three months; pregnant women, on the other hand, must wait until they give birth, as stated in the soorat al-Talaaq [Q. 65:4], while slavegirls must wait two months, according to the Sunna. And it is not lawful for them to hide what God has created in their wombs, of child or menstruation, if they believe in God and the Last Day. Their mates, their spouses, have a better right to restore them, to bring them back, even if they refuse, in such time, that is, during the waiting period, if they desire to set things right, between them, and put pressure on the woman [to return]; the statement is not a condition for the possibility of return, but an incitement [to set things right] in the case of repealed divorce; the term ahaqq, 'better right to', does not denote any priority, since, in any case, no other person has the right to marry them during their waiting period; women shall have rights, due from their spouses, similar to those, rights, due from them, with justice, as stipulated by the Law, in the way of kind conjugality and not being harmed; but their men have a degree above them, in rights, as in their duty to obey their husbands, because of their [the husbands'] payment of a dowry and their [husbands] being the bread-winners; God is Mighty, in His Kingdom, Wise, in what He has ordained for His creatures.