Is a Christian woman required to observe ‘iddah if her Muslim husband divorces her?.,Dought & clear - ,

I am a young Algerian man married to a foreign Christian womanwho has
an inclination towards Islam. But Allah has willed that we should
separate. My question is: is the kitaabi(Jewish or Christian) woman
required to observe 'iddah and do I have to impose it on her if she
refuses to observe 'iddah? There is a secondproblem, which is that I
am living in her house and I do not have any other accommodation togo
to. What is the Islamicruling concerning that?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The kitaabi (Jewish or Christian) wife should observe 'iddah
followingdivorce or death of the husband, just like the Muslim woman.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (29/336): The Hanafis, Maalikis,
Shaafa'is and Hanbalis, as well as ath-Thawri and Abu 'Ubayd, are of
the view that the kitaabior dhimmi woman is required to observe 'iddah
in the event of divorce, annulment of the marriage or death ofthe
husband, just like the Muslim woman, because of the general meaning of
the evidencethat the 'iddah is required, and no differentiation is
made between them on condition that the husband is Muslim, because the
'iddah is required and is a duty towards Allah and towards the
husband. Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"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 have you to count in respect of themem"
[al-Ahzaab 33:49].
So this is his right, and the rights of humans arealso due from the
kitaabi and dhimmi wife. So she is required to observe 'iddah and she
should be compelledto do so, because of the rights of the husband and
child (if she is pregnant), because she is one of those who are
required to fulfil the rights of others. End quote.
Secondly:
Living with a wife who is observing 'iddah varies according to the
type of divorce. If it is a revocable divorce (first or second
talaaq), then there is nothing wrong with it, because the revocably
divorced wife comes under the same ruling as one who is still a wife.
But if it was the final, irrevocable talaaq, then she is a non-mahram
and in that case it is not permissible to look at her or be alone with
her.Undoubtedly their staying in the same house will make it difficult
to adhere to these shar'i guidelines ofnot being alone with herand of
her observing hijab in front of him, as she should do in front ofall
non-mahrams. However, if the house is spacious and it is possible to
allocate one part for him, with a separate entrance and separate
facilities, (then it may be possible for them to live in the same
house). But if they are both in the same house, sharing the same
entrance and facilities, then it is very difficult to avoid the
forbidden matters mentioned above.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:The
thrice-divorced woman is a non-mahramto the man and is like any other
non-mahram woman, so the man doesnot have the right to be alone with
her just as hedoes not have the right to be alone with any other
non-mahram woman; he does not have the right to look at her except
what he may look at of any other non-mahram woman.
End quote from al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 3/349
The irrevocably-divorcedwoman is the one who has been divorced three times.
As for the one who has been divorced once or twice, and her 'iddah has
ended without the husband taking her back, she is not permissible for
her husband except with a new marriage contract.

Islamic Stories, - The value of repentance

Mullah Ali Qari (ra) in his Arabic commentary of Mishkaat wrote an
incident about Ibrahim bin Adham (ra), who wasan eminent spiritual
leader of his time. He writes that Ibrahim bin Adham (ra) said "While
walking one day I came across a wealthy young man who was spewing due
to having drank liquor. He vomited so much that flies started buzzing
around him. This excessive spewing caused him to lose consciousness."
Upon initially seeing him Ibrahim bin Adham was very upset. The
thought occurred to him that the very tongue that pronounces the name
of Allah has been spoiled by the impurity of liquor. He fetched a pail
of water and washed the vomit around his mouth. He prayed to Allah
with the following words: "Oh Allah, thoughhe is unworthy and
disobediently involved in sin, You are my Friend and he is a servant
of myFriend. In view of the fact that I consider him to be Your
servant even though he is a sinner I will cast my attention onhim, for
he is nonetheless connected to You."
The splash of cold water on his face immediately woke him up. He came
to his senses and sat up. He said: "Ibrahim you are such a prominent
Wali Allah (friend of Allah), he who has given up the Kingdom of
Balkh, yet you are tending to a miserable drunkard like myself?"
Ibrahim replied, "Seeing you in this disabled statearoused compassion
in me. I saw you in a state where flies are buzzing around you, but
becauseyou are a servant of my Allah, I deemed it correctto serve
you." The youngman was very surprised saying, "I was always under the
impression that men of Allah look down upon sinners. Today have I come
to realize that none are as compassionate upon sinners as the friends
of Allah. Please give me your hands, so that I can make Taubah, I can
repent for my sins and become Bayat to you."
Sultan Ibrahim (ra) accepted his request for Bayat and made him repent
from his sins. At that moment he received kashf (ability tosee some
hidden things) that this young man who had just repented had surpassed
many pious individuals of that period.
Indeed, at the very moment a person repents from his sins, he becomes
the most beloved to Allah. Even the angels celebrate in the heavens
saying that so and so has asked forgiveness from Allah and has come
close to Allah.

Islamic Stories, - The smart thing to do

Here is another story about Sultan Mahmud ofAfghanistan and his
servant, Ayyaz. Sultan Mahmud would respect Ayyaz for his wisdom even
though he was a servant. This made the ministers and other people of
high positions very jealous of Ayyaz. They talked wrong against him
and started a rumour that Ayyaz wasnothing but a fool. The king came
to know of this and he decided to prove to them who werethe real
fools. An announcement was made to all the people that the King will
distribute his belongingson a particular date. Whatever a person touch
will become his onthat day. When the day came, many people appeared by
the king's palace. The king made his announcement againthat a person
can have whatever he touches. The door was opened and everyone ran to
touch whatever was of value in the palace. Some touched jewelery of
gold while others touched fancy furnitures, etc. But Ayyazwas just
standing by the king and was not touching anything. People thought
that Ayyaz was crazy as he wasn't taking advantageof this great event.
Now,Ayyaz asked the king if the announcement he made was certain. The
king said "Yes, whatever you touch is yours." Immediately, Ayyaz
placed his right hand on the king's head and the left hand on his
shoulder. He then shouted, "Listen everyone. I was waiting for this
moment to aquire the most expensive thing. All of you took whatever
the king possessed, but you forgot about the owner of all these, which
is the king himself. I hereby declare that my hands are on the king,
so the king is mine. You cannot remove one thing from this palace
because I am the owner of all these now." After hearing this from
Ayyaz, everyone realized that actually, Ayyaz is the only smart one
and everyone else was in error.
Today people are only running after the creations but, very few are
running towards theCreator Himself. If Allah, the King of all kings,
becomes our Friend thenwhat else do we need?

STORY -- THE GOOD HUSBAND

There was a man who loved his wife very much. The couple had 3
children. He could give her everything he could but the woman never
appreciated. Though the man was not rich, he would share all that he
had with her. He could buy for her clothes and the only thing his wife
could say was that the husband was fulfilling his duty as a Man. The
man would buy a dress but in reply, the woman would mock at him,
because the dress was of low quality. The man would smileat his wife
and tell her "one day, Iwill become rich and I will buy for you all
the expensive things you need". The woman could never make any phone
call unless she was requesting anything from her husband and once her
request was not granted, all she could do was to quarrel for days,
sometimes fight. One evening, the man was coming from work, he bought
a Kilogram of meat, happily the poor man expecting to surprise his
wife, he reached home foundthe wife and showed her the package. Then
she shouted: "eh! And you call yourself a man? Which husband, apart
from you, do you think comes home with just one kilogram, no cooking
oil, and no other ingredients? You better leave it, you're a
good-for-nothin g husband." Then she threw the meat in the bush and
went back home. The Husband felt low but he never let down his love
for her.
One day, the husband felt pain inhis left foot, then a Tumour appeared
on the foot, it then emerged growing big and more painful. He went to
the hospital after several months of pain and was found with cancer,
he was poor to have a better medical care.
Though he was sick he tried much as he could to provide for his
family. Two years later the condition worsened and he was put in the
special care unit, he was operated and the foot was removed,
but unfortunately it was too late, the Virus had affected more parts
of the body and at last he called his wife and told him,"LOOK AFTER MY
CHILDREN, i feel i can't live any longer though i'll always be with
you in spirit, mayGod be with you". He then breathed his last and
died. The woman, and three children cried, for days mourning, they
buried him.
Two months later, the wife was crying by her husbands grave asshe said
these words:
"My love, you did all the best to me, you treated me well and gave me
all you could, but all i could pay you, was endless quarrels and
fights. I never realised your importance and your love until when you
were gone, and when I'm the one to provide food, clothing,
educationand many others. I remember when i threw your one Kilogram of
meat to the bush, but now i have nowhere to get even a Half a Kilo.
'THE GOOD DIE YOUNG' that's why you died when you were still young. A
husband whom i could mock at but you only smiled at me. The husband
who could care and had unending love.
I know you are listening to me and i ask you to forgive me for not
appreciating all you did to me, when you were alive.
We are all missing your presence and your youngest daughter is always
crying asking when you'llbe back. But you will never leave our hearts
until we Join you."
MORAL:
* Always appreciate what you are given, whether small or big.
* Love is not all about how much we have, but its all about how we
share the little we have.
RELEVANCY.
Have you ever taken time to thank Allah for what He has donefor you?
Many people only remember Allah when they have problems and once their
problems are solved, they don't take time, to thank Him or remain
close to Him.
Oh Allah, i pray that you keep Your providence towards me always and
give me an appreciating heart so that i'll always be thankful to
whatever you give me, ameen./