After being convicted for ten years and fourteen years in two cases, Imran Khan and his wife have each been convicted to seven years in their "illegal" marriage case. The word "iddat" or "iddah" is defined as the waiting period for a widow or divorced woman before she can marry again. For a widow, this period is four months and ten days, for a divorced woman it's less (about three months). This was for the woman to determine whether she was pregnant or not at the time of her divorce or her husband's death. Nowadays of course a woman can easily find out if she's pregnant or not within a few days after having sex. 

The waiting period is torturous for any woman. Even if she is past the age where she cannot bear children (after menopause), she has to observe it. I remember reading about a woman who was exempted from the waiting period as her husband had died a couple of days before she gave birth. This happened in the early days of Islam.

Imran Khan married his third wife on January1, 2018 because she had been advised in her dream that she should divorce her husband and marry Imran Khan on that date. This would ensure that Imran Khan would win the 2018 elections and become the prime minister of Pakistan. Unfortunately, she had not completed her "iddat", and when she realized this, they went through another marriage a month or so later (with the same mullah presiding over it).

The Tableeghi Jamat head Taqi Usmani incredibly determined that the waiting period can be as small as thirty nine days. I wonder how a woman can have three periods in thirty nine days.

Their conviction of course will be overturned because even if a woman marries before her waiting period is over, she can't be punished for it (according to Pakistan's penal code) and after this case, any divorced or widowed woman can claim that she has undergone three menstrual cycles in a month or so.

But at least most people are now aware that neither Imran Khan nor his "holy" wife know much about Islam. 

0 comments