Why Is Iddat Of A Pregnant Widow Is Till Child Birth When The Lineage Is Clear?
The complete statement would be that purpose of iddah is to establish whether a lady is pregnant or not to protect the lineage of the child; and if pregnant, the protection of lineage extends till the birth of the child. This is to ensure that no hurdles come from start of pregnancy till the birth of the child, including but not limited to hurdles created because of subseqent marriage of the widow/divorcee, other familial problems that may arise because of termination of iddah before birth and financial hurdles that may arise in the absence of Iddah since the financial responsibilty of the divorcee/widow is upon the husband/deceased during the iddah period, which will be fulfuilled in case of a widow by either the relatives of the deceased or through a will created by the deceased in favour of his widow. Islam not only protects the lineage but also paves the way for the birth of the upcoming newborns.