We had our nikāḥ but never lived together as husband and wife. Do I have an iddah after the divorce?

Sources

1. 1

   Qurʾān, al-Aḥzāb 33:49

   Open: Qurʾān, al-Aḥzāb 33:49 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 1

   يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا ۖ فَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ وَسَرِّحُوهُنَّ سَرَاحًا جَمِيلًا

   O you who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them [i.e., consummated the marriage], then there is not for you any waiting period to count concerning them. So provide for them and give them a gracious release.

2. 2

   Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:96

   Open: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:96 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 2

   وَأَجْمَعُوا عَلَى أَنَّ الْمُطَلَّقَةَ قَبْلَ الْمَسِيسِ لَا عِدَّةَ عَلَيْهَا؛ لِقَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا فَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ وَسَرِّحُوهُنَّ سَرَاحًا جَمِيلا} [الأحزاب: ٤٩] وَلِأَنَّ الْعِدَّةَ تَجِبُ لِبَرَاءَةِ الرَّحِمِ، وَقَدْ تَيَقَّنَّاهَا هَاهُنَا

   They agreed that a woman divorced before intercourse (masīs) has no iddah, because Allah says: "O you who believe, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is not for you any waiting period to count concerning them…" [al-Aḥzāb 49]; and because the iddah is required to establish that the womb is empty, and that is certain here.

3. 3

   Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:99

   Open: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:99 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 3

   فَأَمَّا إنْ خَلَا بِهَا وَلَمْ يُصِبْهَا، ثُمَّ طَلَّقَهَا، فَإِنَّ مَذْهَبَ أَحْمَدَ وُجُوبُ الْعِدَّةِ عَلَيْهَا. وَرُوِيَ ذَلِكَ عَنْ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ وَزَيْدٍ، وَابْنِ عُمَرَ. وَبِهِ قَالَ عُرْوَةُ، وَعَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ، وَعَطَاءٌ، وَالزُّهْرِيُّ، وَالثَّوْرِيُّ، وَالْأَوْزَاعِيُّ، وَإِسْحَاقُ، وَأَصْحَابُ الرَّأْيِ، وَالشَّافِعِيُّ فِي قَدِيمِ قَوْلَيْهِ. وَقَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ فِي الْجَدِيدِ: لَا عِدَّةَ عَلَيْهَا؛ وقَوْله تَعَالَى: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا} [الأحزاب: ٤٩] وَهَذَا نَصٌّ، وَلِأَنَّهَا مُطَلَّقَةٌ لَمْ تُمَسَّ، فَأَشْبَهَتْ مَنْ لَمْ يُخْلَ بِهَا. وَلَنَا إجْمَاعُ الصَّحَابَةِ، رَوَى الْإِمَامُ أَحْمَدُ، الْأَثْرَمُ، بِإِسْنَادِهِمَا عَنْ زُرَارَةَ بْنِ أَوْفَى، قَالَ: قَضَى الْخُلَفَاءُ الرَّاشِدُونَ أَنَّ مَنْ أَرْخَى سِتْرًا، أَوْ أَغْلَقَ بَابًا، فَقَدْ وَجَبَ الْمَهْرُ، وَوَجَبَتْ الْعِدَّةُ

   If he was alone with her (khalwah) and did not have intercourse with her, then divorced her, the school of Aḥmad is that the iddah is required of her. This is reported from the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, Zayd and Ibn ʿUmar, and was held by ʿUrwah, ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, ʿAṭāʾ, al-Zuhrī, al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, Isḥāq, the Ḥanafīs (aṣḥāb al-raʾy) and al-Shāfiʿī in his old view. Al-Shāfiʿī said in his new view: there is no iddah on her, citing al-Aḥzāb 49. Ibn Qudāmah's evidence: Zurārah ibn Awfā said the Rightly-Guided Caliphs ruled that whoever lets down a curtain or closes a door, the mahr is due and the iddah is due.

4. 4

   al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 253

   Open: al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 253 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 4

   عدة النكاح ضربان الأول متعلق بفرقة حي بطلاق وفسخ وإنما تجب بعد وطء أو استدخال منيه وإن تيقن براءة الرحم لا بخلوة في الجديد

   The iddah of marriage is of two kinds. The first is tied to a separation in life, by divorce or annulment. It is required only after intercourse, or after his semen entered her, even if the womb is known to be empty — not by seclusion (khalwah), in the new view (al-jadīd).

5. 5

   al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:469

   Open: al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:469 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 5

   (لَا) تَعْتَدُّ (بِغَيْرِهَا) أَيْ الْخَلْوَةِ (إلَّا أَنْ تُقِرَّ) هِيَ فَقَطْ (بِهِ) أَيْ بِالْوَطْءِ فَتَعْتَدُّ فَإِنْ أَقَرَّ بِهِ وَكَذَّبَتْهُ وَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ خَلْوَةً فَلَا عِدَّةَ عَلَيْهَا وَأُخِذَ بِإِقْرَارِهِ فَيَتَكَمَّلُ عَلَيْهِ الصَّدَاقُ وَيَلْزَمُهُ النَّفَقَةُ وَالسُّكْنَى (أَوْ) إلَّا أَنْ (يَظْهَرَ حَمْلٌ) بِهَا مَعَ إنْكَارِهِ الْوَطْءَ وَلَمْ تُعْلَمْ خَلْوَةٌ (وَلَمْ يَنْفِهِ) بِلِعَانٍ

   She does not observe an iddah without it (the seclusion), unless she alone admits intercourse, in which case she observes the iddah; if he admits it and she denies it and no seclusion is known, there is no iddah on her and he is held to his admission; or unless a pregnancy appears while he denies intercourse and no seclusion is known, and he does not deny the child by liʿān.