السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
With regards to your query, please be informed of the following:
- Please be hereby informed that when any of the parties to an Islamic marriage becomes guilty of apostasy, the marriage does not immediately terminate.
- Instead, the marriage goes into suspense for the entire duration of the ‘iddah (waiting period) determined as three menstrual cycles of the wife.
- Should the apostasizing party revert to the fold of Islam within this period, the marriage subsists without the need for a new matrimonial ceremony.
- If the ‘iddah period expires without the apostasizing party reverting to the fold of Islam, the marriages ceases to exist upon expiry of the ‘iddah.
- Should the apostasizing party revert thereafter, a new nikāḥ will be required.
والله تعالى أعلم
And Allāh knows best.
(Issued: November 2016)
