The waiting period for men

Unlike women, men do not have a waiting period (’Iddah). They can remarry straight away! However, there are three cases (as far as I know) where a man has to undergo the same waiting period as his divorced wife before being allowed to remarry. Before we mention the 3 cases it's important to note that divorce is of two types: 1. Ṭalāq Raj’ee (revocable divorce) - this is where the husband is allowed to cancel the divorce and retain his wife; as long as he does so within the ’Iddah period. If he does not take her back during this period, the divorce becomes irrevocable (Baynūnah Ṣughrā). The husband has the option to cancel his divorce on two counts, but on the third count the divorce becomes irrevocable (Baynūnah Kubrā). Allāh Almighty said: { ٱلطَّلَـٰقُ مَرَّتَانِۖ فَإِمۡسَاكُۢ بِمَعۡرُوفٍ أَوۡ تَسۡرِیحُۢ بِإِحۡسَـٰنࣲ} “Divorce may be revoked twice, then the husband must retain ˹his wife˺ with honour or separate ˹from her˺ with grace.” [Surah Al-Baqarah: 229] In principle, a woman issued this type of divorce is still considered a wife whilst she remains in her waiting period! 2. Ṭalāq Baa'in (irrevocable divorce) - this type of divorce is where the husband is unable to cancel the divorce and therefore unable to retain his wife. Once he issues this divorce, he can only take her back: ▪️after contracting a new marriage (baynūnah Ṣughrā) or ▪️after she gets married to and divorced by another man (baynūnah Kubrā) The three cases we are now going to mention relate to the first type (Ṭalāq Raj’ee): Case 1. If a man married to 4 wives divorces one of his wives, he is not allowed to remarry until the waiting period for this divorced wife is over. If he marries another woman during this waiting period, he would be married to 5 women all at the same time - which is not permissible. Case 2. If a man divorces a woman and wants to marry her sister, he has to wait until her waiting period is over, or else he would be married to two sisters at the same time - which is not permissible. Case 3. If a man divorces a woman and wants to marry her niece (or he divorces the niece and wants to marry her aunt), he has to wait until her waiting period is over, otherwise he would marry a woman and her niece at the same time - which is not permissible. ___ Ref: Al-Mawsū’ah Al-Fiqhiyyah (29/306)