Validity of divorce issued during a woman’s menstrual cycle

With regards to issuing Talaaq whilst a woman is experiencing her menstrual cycle, Talaaq will certainly take place, as the prohibition of issuing Talaaq whilst menstruating is due to another reason. The jurists have written that, if a woman is divorced during her menstrual cycle then her Iddat period will be three menstrual cycles after the expiry of the current menstrual cycle. This means that her Iddat period will be prolonged due to experiencing her current menstrual cycle. If she was divorced in a clean period, her iddat period will simply be three menstrual cycles and nothing more. In other words, when she is divorced during her menses, her Iddat period is, so to say, three and half or almost four menstrual cycles depending at which stage of the menses the woman was divorced. Hence, the prohibition of Talaaq during menses is due to the fact that the Iddat period will be further extended, otherwise the divorce itself takes place.