In the context of protection of lineage, women and family, iddah has preserved its
existence under the influence of religious, cultural and social factors, and has gained
a universal quality in purpose and scope, except for the differences in terms. To stop
the extremism experienced in the pre-Islamic Arab society and to bring them into
order, restrictive provisions were introduced on the issue of idda to ensure the preservation of the lineage. The ‘iddah appears as a precaution to determine whether
the woman is pregnant by her newly ex-husband and to prevent lineage confusion.
In addition, it allows the husband to think once more through talaq al-rij’ī, and
both husband and wife through talaq al-bāin; It also has important purposes and
wisdoms, such as protecting the woman against difficult situations she may encounter and preparing her for the life she will re-establish. In Islamic law, ‘iddah refers
to the period that a woman must wait in case the previous marriage ends due to
reasons such as death, talaq, annulment, separation, if she wants to marry a new
one. The provisions regarding the ‘iddah of a man are exceptional. In the issue of
‘iddah, which is discussed in detail in the Qur’an and hadiths, different periods are
determined according to the way the marriage ends or the status of the woman.
According to this, ‘iddah is divided into two parts as ‘iddah after death, divorce
or rescission, as well as being divided into three as ‘iddah after menstruation and
birth, and periodic ‘iddah. While there are separate periods for different situations
in Islamic law, the waiting period is fixed as three hundred days according to the
Turkish Civil Code No. 4721. In the Swiss Civil Code, which is the source of the
relevant code, which is still in force, all provisions regarding ‘iddah were repealed.
The period during which the woman is obliged to wait also temporarily prevents the
woman from remarrying. For this reason, the marriage contract is considered valid
when the marriage officer marries the woman even though the three hundred days
have not expired. In Islamic law, marriage without waiting for ‘iddah is considered
haram and legally invalid. Until today, there is no explanation contrary to Islamic
Family Law in the definition and justification of ‘iddah in all regulations related to