Ruling on a Missing Husband: ʿIddah and Remarriage Guidelines

Excerpt from: “Aḥkām wa Masāʾil – In the Light of Qur’an and Sunnah” by Shaykh Mubashshir Ahmad Rabbānī

❖ Question:​

What should a woman do if her husband goes missing?

❖ Answer:​

A man who disappears after marriage and whose whereabouts are completely unknown is, in Islamic legal terminology, referred to as "Maftūdu’l-Khabar" (مفقود الخبر) — a person whose news is lost.


According to Islamic law, if he remains missing for four years from the time his disappearance is confirmed, he is considered legally deceased. Following this, his wife is required to observe the ʿiddah (waiting period) of a woman whose husband has died, i.e., four months and ten days. After completing this ʿiddah, she is permitted to remarry if she wishes.

❖ Evidences from the Salaf (Predecessors)​

Although there is no Marfūʿ Hadith (direct narration from the Prophet ﷺ) on this matter, athār (narrations from the Companions) do exist.

◈ From Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه:​

Narrated by Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib رحمه الله:


تربصت امرأة المفقود أربع سنين ثم تعتد عدة المتوفى عنها زوجها وتزوج إن شاءت
"The wife of a missing person should wait for four years. Then she should observe the ʿiddah of a widow (four months and ten days), and thereafter she may marry if she wishes."
—

Reference: Sunan Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr: 1752

,

Reference: Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik: 332

,

Reference: Sunan al-Kubrā al-Bayhaqī: 7/445

,

Reference: Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/88

◈ From Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and Sayyidunā ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنهما:​

أن عمر وعثمان قضيا فى المفقود أن امرأته تتربص أربع سنين وأربعة أشهر وعشرا بعد ذلك ثم تزوج
"ʿUmar and ʿUthmān رضي الله عنهما both ruled that the wife of a missing man should wait four years, then observe a waiting period of four months and ten days, after which she may remarry."
—

Reference: Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/85

,

Reference: Bayhaqī: 7/445

◈ From Sayyidunā Jābir ibn Zayd:​

تنتظر امرأة المفقود أربع سنين
"The wife of the missing man should wait for four years."
—

Reference: Sunan Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr: 1756

,

Reference: Bayhaqī: 7/445

◈ From Imām Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib رحمه الله:​

إذا فقد فى الصف تربصت سنة وإذا فقد فى غير الصف فأربع سنين
"If a man goes missing in the battlefield, the wife waits one year; but if he disappears elsewhere, then four years."
—

Reference: Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/89

◈ From Imām Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah رحمه الله:​

"If the matter is brought before the judge and four years have passed, then the husband is declared deceased and his estate is distributed among the heirs."
—

Reference: Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7/90

This is also the view of Imām al-Zuhrī رحمه الله.
—

Reference: Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/431

◈ Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله:​

وثبت أيضا عن عثمان وابن مسعود فى رواية وعن جمع من التابعين النخعي وعطاء والزهري ومكحول والشعبي واتفق أكثرهم على أن التأجيل من يوم ترفع أمرها للحاكم وعلى أنها تعتد عدة الوفاة بعد مضي الأربع سنين
"This ruling is also authentically reported from ʿUthmān and (in one narration) from Ibn Masʿūd, and from a group of Tābiʿīn: al-Nakhaʿī, ʿAṭāʾ, al-Zuhrī, Makḥūl, and al-Shaʿbī. Most agree that the four-year count begins from when the matter is presented to the judge, and that after four years, the woman observes the ʿiddah of a widow."
—

Reference: Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/421

❖ The Ḥanafī View and Modern Adaptation​

According to Ḥanafī jurisprudence, a woman whose husband goes missing must wait until the presumed age of the husband reaches ninety years before his death is ruled.


Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī Thānwī writes in Aslī Bahishtī Zēwar under “The Ruling Regarding a Missing Husband”:


“A woman whose husband goes missing and whether he is dead or alive is unknown, may not remarry. She must wait, hoping he may return. When the time passes such that he would have been ninety years old, then a death ruling may be issued. If the woman is still of marriageable age, she may remarry after completing ʿiddah, but only if a sharʿī judge declares the man dead.”
—

Reference: Aslī Bahishtī Zēwar: 4/30

With reference to

Reference: Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī: 2/915

,

Reference: al-Hidāyah: 2/202

.


However, Ḥanafī scholars no longer issue fatāwā on this opinion. They have shifted to the view of Imām Mālik, which follows the evidence of the Companions and early jurists as mentioned above.


In the same footnote of Bahishtī Zēwar, it is stated:


“Due to the pressing needs of the time, scholars have begun issuing fatāwā according to the view of Imām Mālik, who did not require the ninety-year condition. If needed, one may consult scholars in detail and act upon this ruling. A booklet titled al-Ḥīlah al-Nājizah lil-Ḥīlah al-ʿĀjizah discusses this and similar cases extensively and bears the collective signatures of scholars from Thāna Bhawan, Deoband, and Saharanpur.”


This booklet, later printed under the title Aḥkām Ṭalāq wa Niẓām Sharʿī ʿAdālat, confirms this shift in position.
— Publisher: al-Faysal Publishers, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore (p. 22–25)

❖ Conclusion​

From the narrations of the Companions, Tābiʿīn, and early scholars, we conclude:


① When a woman’s husband definitely goes missing,
② Or when the case is presented to the Islamic judge,
③ She must wait four years,
④ Then observe the ʿiddah of a widow (4 months and 10 days),
⑤ After which she may remarry if she wishes.


This is the most widespread and accepted opinion, affirmed by at least five Companions of the Prophet ﷺ.