The Divorced Woman Whose Husband Has Had Sexual Intercourse With Her Must Observe the Waiting Period in All Cases

Question :

If a woman is irrevocably divorced, or she is divorced three times (at once), must she observe a waiting period? And should she stay in the house of the man who divorces her throughout the duration of the waiting period?

Answer:

If a woman is divorced, then she must observe a waiting period, whether the divorce is irrevocable or it is possible to take her back, according to the general meaning of the Words of Allah, Most High:
"And divorced women shall wait (as regards their marriage) for three menstrual periods."

Unless he divorced her before having sexual intercourse with her, and being secluded with her, then she does not have to observe a waiting period, according to the Words of Allah, Most High:
"O you who believe! When you marry believing women, and then divorce them before you have sexual intercourse with them, no 'Iddah [divorce prescribed period, see (V.65:4)] have you to count in respect of them.

As for her remaining in the house, if the divorce was revocable, then she remains in the house of her husband in the normal manner which she observes with her husband. She should make herself attractive and show her face and other parts to him, without having sexual intercourse, and the things which lead to

it, because that must be only after she returns to him.

However, if the divorce is irrevocable, if there is anyone else apart from the husband and the wife in the house, then there is no objection to her remaining, but she must veil herself from her husband, because he has become unrelated to her. And if there is no one else in the house, then it is not permissible for her to remain there, because that is seclusion, and her husband is unrelated to her.

The Prophet forbade a woman from staying alone with an unrelated man, except when there is a Mahram present. And her marriage to another man must wait until the end of her waiting period, and it is not permissible for her to marry anyone before the end of her waiting period, even if the divorce is irrevocable.