Her prescribed waiting period after divorce is over. Propose to her anew

Islam > Hadiths > Jurisprudence and juristic principles > Jurisprudence and Juristic Principles

Hadith narrated by Narrated by Ibn Majah

Authenticity grade : Authentic hadith

Updated on 24 September 2026 at 12:34 AM

📖 3 min read

Hadith text: Her prescribed waiting period after divorce is over. Pr…

عن الزُّبير بن العوام رضي الله عنه أنَّه كانت عنده أمُّ كُلثوم بنتُ عقبة، فقالت له وهي حاملٌ: طَيِّب نفسي بتطليقة، فطلَّقها تطليقةً، ثم خرجَ إلى الصلاة، فرجع وقد وضعت، فقال: ما لها؟ خَدَعتني، خَدَعها اللهُ، ثم أتى النبيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فقال: «سَبَقَ الكتابُ أَجَلَه، اخطِبها إلى نفسِها».

Az-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwām (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he was married to Umm Kulthūm bint ‘Uqbah when she said to him, while being pregnant: "Make me happy by proclaiming divorce one time.” So he divorced her once, then went out to the prayer. He returned after she had given birth to a child, then he said: “What is the matter with her? She deceived me! May Allah deceive her!” Then he came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) who then said: “Her prescribed waiting period after divorce is over. Propose to her anew.”

Explanation of the hadith: Her prescribed waiting period after divorce is over. Pr…

Az-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwām was married to Umm Kulthūm bint ‘Uqbah, who asked him while she was pregnant to bring her some happiness by making one proclamation of divorce. Apparently she did not love him and wanted to part from him irrevocably. So, she asked him to divorce her with one proclamation when she realized that her delivery is immanent, knowing that the prescribed waiting period after divorce for the pregnant woman ends by giving birth to her baby. So, he divorced her once, then went out to the prayer.

He returned after she had delivered her baby. Whereupon he said: “What is the matter with her? She deceived me! May Allah deceive her!” Deception is one of the attributes of Divine Acts; however, Allah, the Almighty, is not described by such an attribute independently in the absolute sense.

Rather, He could be described by this attribute only in a reciprocal context, such as saying "Allah deceives whoever attempts to deceive Him, as He does with the hypocrites, those who devise evil plots for the believers, and the like. It is not permissible to interpret this attribute by saying Az-Zubayr wanted to say that Allah would penalize her for her deception. Rather, this attribute must be affirmed exactly as the other Attributes of Allah, the Almighty, without distorting or denying the meaning and without likening it or descriibng how it is. Then, Az-Zubayr came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of what had happened between him and his wife.

He told him that her prescribed waiting period after divorce was over earlier than he expected, and that divorce had been already granted. Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) instructed him to propose marriage to her anew, because he no longer had any authority over her after the passage of her prescribed waiting period.

Categories : Revocable and Irrevocable Divorce

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