Definition and Ruling
a. Definition: The waiting period refers to the period during which a woman refrains from marriage after the death or separation of her husband, and the time of which expires by giving birth, ending the menstrual cycles, or by the passing of specific months.
b. The ruling: The scholars are in consensus that the woman is obliged to observe the waiting period whenever its causes exist [208] The four Madhabs agree that it is obligatory upon the Jewish and Christian wife (the people of the Book). . Ibn Qudaamah and al-Bahwatee transmitted the consensus of scholars on this ruling.