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Fatwa CenterMarrying during Iddah
Question
I married a Christian woman and she became a Muslim from our first day of marriage. She was separated from her first husband 6 years ago, but she got the divorce from the court only one week before our marriage. It means that we married before her Idda. The question now is did we commit a sin? If so, what do we have to do as we are already married for seven months. Help us.
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The ruling of separation and divorce are different in Shariah. Separation means a husband and wife do not cancel the marriage contract but they merely do not live together. Divorce means that they have cut the married relations off and are no longer considered as husband and wife.
If this woman was divorced 6 years ago then there is no harm in marrying her, regardless of whether in official papers she is effectively divorced or not.
However, if she was just separated from her husband without divorce then she became a Muslim, so her waiting period starts from the day she embraced Islam for 3 months, which is being pure after three menstruations if she is a woman who has menses, and until she gives birth, if she is pregnant, and 3 months if she is not pregnant or has no menses.
It is not correct to sign a marriage contract with her if she is in her waiting period, and in this case the marriage contract has to be renewed, and if the woman became pregnant then the child will take the name of the husband because it is a doubtful marriage according to Shariah. This of course is in case she was actually not divorced until you signed a marriage contract with her after only a week had passed of the waiting period.
Allah knows best.
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