Divorcing the wife while in her menstrual period and dying before taking her back

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Q: I married a person, and he divorced me two years ago during my menstrual period by saying, "You are divorced once." This year, he divorced me again while I was Tahir (ritually pure). That was during `Eid-ul-Fitr (the Festival of Breaking the Fast). Six months passed and I had more than three menstrual periods. He died without taking me back in marriage, and I had my menstrual period after his death. Do I have a right in his inheritance? What is my `Iddah (woman's prescribed waiting period after divorce or widowhood)?

A: If the reality is as you mentioned, and he did not divorce you while he was on his deathbed, you do not have to observe `Iddah. This is according to the following Ayah (Qur'anic verse) in which Allah says: (Part No. 20; Page No. 414) And divorced women shall wait (as regards their marriage) for three menstrual periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allâh has created in their wombs, if they believe in Allâh and the Last Day. And their husbands have the better right to take them back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation. As he did not take you back in marriage, and you had three menstrual periods before his death, you do not have to observe the `Iddah prescribed for death, as you were not his wife when he died. Moreover, you are entitled to no share in the inheritance. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.