Iddah Calculator — Waiting Period After Divorce or Widowhood

Iddah calculator: when the waiting period ends

This iddah calculator gives the date on which the iddah (iddat) — the waiting period in Islamic law after a divorce or the death of a husband — is expected to end. It follows the three cases set out in the Qur’an: three menstrual cycles after a divorce (2:228), three months for a woman who does not menstruate (65:4), four months and ten days after a husband’s death (2:234), and, for a pregnant woman, until the birth (65:4).

Where the schools of law read these verses differently, the page shows each reading side by side: the purity and the menstruation views of the three cycles, and lunar months counted by the moon or as 30 days each. The Hijri months come from the Umm al-Qura calendar, with a setting for a local moon sighting.

We know this can be a difficult time. The page is meant to explain, not to decide: it is not a fatwa and not legal advice. Civil law may differ, so please speak with a local scholar, and with a lawyer for legal questions.

How to use the Iddah Calculator

1. Choose the Situation — after divorce or after a husband’s death — and your School (madhhab).
2. Enter the date of the divorce or of the death. Tick Pregnant at the time if that applies, and optionally add the expected date of birth.
3. After a divorce, choose Has menstrual periods and enter the first day of the last period, the usual cycle length and the usual period length — or choose No periods.
4. For month counts, pick the Hijri calendar and any local moon-sighting adjustment, and whether the main result uses the moon or 30-day months.
5. Read the end date, the comparison table and the notes. Press Copy result to keep them.

Iddah Calculator features

How the iddah is counted

After a divorce, a woman who menstruates waits three quru’ (2:228). The Shafi‘i and Maliki schools, and Ja‘fari rulings, understand quru’ as times of purity, so the iddah ends as the third menstruation after the divorce begins; the Hanafi and Hanbali schools understand it as menstruations, so it ends when the third full menstruation after the divorce has ended. A period during which the divorce happened is not counted. Because cycles vary, the calculator projects them from the dates you give — the real end is the third period itself.

A woman who does not menstruate, because she has not yet begun or has passed menopause, waits three months (65:4). A widow waits four months and ten days (2:234), whether or not the marriage was consummated. For a pregnant woman the iddah ends with the birth (65:4); for a pregnant widow, a minority view, followed in Ja‘fari rulings, waits for whichever is later.

Worked examples

A divorce on 1 October 2026, during purity, with the last period starting on 20 September and a regular 28-day cycle with 6-day periods: the next periods are expected on 18 October, 15 November and 13 December. In the purity view the iddah ends as the third begins, on 13 December 2026; in the menstruation view it ends when that period finishes, on 19 December 2026.

A husband’s death on 1 October 2026 (20 Rabi al-Thani 1448 in the Umm al-Qura calendar): four Hijri months later is 20 Sha‘ban 1448 (28 January 2027), and ten more days give 7 February 2027 — 129 days. Counting 30-day months instead gives 130 days, 8 February 2027. When the start falls mid-month, the jurists differ on which count to use.

For dates in the Islamic calendar see the Hijri date converter; for an expected birth date, the pregnancy due date calculator; for shares of an estate, the Islamic inheritance calculator.