An apostate from Islam: does his wife owe a waiting period?

Musa bin Abi Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I asked Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him): How long a waiting period does the wife of an apostate observe? He said: Three menstrual periods. I asked: And if he is killed? He said: Four months and ten days.

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) and al-Hakam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a Muslim apostatizes and goes off to the land of the disbelievers, his wife observes a waiting period of three menstrual periods if she menstruates, and three months if she does not menstruate. If she is pregnant, her waiting period lasts until she gives birth. Then she may marry if she wishes. If her husband comes back and repents before her waiting period is over, their marriage remains intact.

Al-Hasan (al-Basri) said: If a man apostatizes, his wife becomes separated from him by one irrevocable divorce. He will have no right to take his wife back, and the woman observes the waiting period of a divorced woman.

Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: As long as the woman is in her waiting period, he has more right to her; if he returns while she is in her waiting period, she remains his wife.

Abu Ma'shar said: Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote this to Abd al-Hamid bin Abd al-Rahman concerning the apostate.