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The Waiting Period in Islam and Christianity
The waiting period, a period of time that a divorced or a widow should not remarry before its expiry, has been given much interest in Islam while in Christianity there is no mention of it. This period is termed in Islam" Eda". The waiting period, as later enacted by the churchmen by the force of law is not a divine law. There is no a single verse in the Holy Book that determines how long a woman should wait before remarriage. Please note that in Islam this period is determined in Quran. Why a woman should not marry before the expiry of the waiting period Since the womb of the divorced or the widow might carry a fetus from her ex-husband, the women should wait till she is sure that she is not pregnant, If not, a child from the ex-husband might be given the name of the new husband. The Qur'anic verse relating to the period of iddah is: Al Baqarah 2:234 If any of you die and leave widows behind, they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days: When they have fulfilled their term, there is no blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner. And Allah is well acquainted with what ye do. (Yusuf Ali) The directive of the Qur'an regarding the waiting period of a widow, is as under. Whoever from amongst you dies and leaves behind wives, the wives will hold themselves [from marriage] for four months and ten days. Then, when they have expired this period, there is no blame upon you in whatever they do regarding themselves, according to the recognized traditions. And God is fully aware of whatever you are doing. And there is no blame upon you in proposing [marriage] to these women or in keeping such proposal to yourself - God is aware that you would mention it to them - but do not make with them any secret commitments, except that you say a noble word to them. However, do not commit the marriage-contract with them, until the law has reached its prescribed time... (Al-Baqarah 2: 234 - 235) The following is a summary of the main directives entailed in these verses:
These are the basic directives of the Sharia regarding the waiting period of a widow. It is also clear from another directive of the Qur'an that during this waiting period, the woman should not be turned out of her house. It is also clear from the stipulations of the Qur'an that the prescription of the waiting period for a divorced woman is with the basic purpose of ascertaining her condition with reference to pregnancy as well as to provide the divorcing couple adequate time to review and, if possible, to revise their decision. Thus, in view of the increased prescription of waiting period in the case of a widow, it seems that the waiting period prescribed for a widow entails other purposes, besides merely ascertaining the woman's position with reference to pregnancy.
The waiting period in Christianity The New Testament doesn’t contain one single verse that talks about the waiting period. So the orthodox church has determined a period of ten months for a widow or a divorced woman to remarry. The view of the catholic and protestant Church According to the catholic and the protestant churches no " Waiting period is prescribed but even, according to the writings of the early fathers, remarriage is not favoured. Again women is oppressed The pregnant and the non-pregnant should wait this long period, I mean why should the non-pregnant women wait a period of ten months? Moreover, a judge can allow a women to marry if it was proved that no sexual intercourse was practiced a few months again. Also it is possible that women might play with the period and misguide the judge to issue a bill of divorce.
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