Nursing, and the Waiting Period

The twenty-first point follows: that Islam rests, again, upon justice and iḥsān, and that no allowance is made for ẓulm and oppression. Hence, even where there has been a separation and the mother must be called upon, she retains the right to feed and to nurse her children. All of that is treated here:

How long the nursing period is to be — all of that is set out. Women especially should read this, it being very much to the purpose.

There follows the discussion of the ʿiddah. Once a divorce has taken place, or the husband has died, a woman must observe the waiting period. One reason for it is plainly to mourn the husband's death. Another is to establish whether she carries that husband's child — for Islam lays great emphasis upon keeping genealogy and ancestry from being confused. Were she to marry again at once, there might be a possibility of supposing the child to be the second husband's when it is in truth the first husband's. Hence about three complete menstrual cycles are required for this to be made clear: not one, but three complete cycles must a woman spend in it. There is again a great deal of detail here which cannot be entered upon. The various discussions of the ʿiddah and the waiting period are found in these verses.

Finally, to make the matter more complete, there is also the case in which husband and wife are in difficulty and the wife wishes to be released while the husband will not release her: the wife's making a payment, or forgoing her dowry, to secure the divorce. That too is mentioned in the Qur'an.