iddat

Q: My husband and I have been separated for a year now. In May this year, he sent me an sms stating "I am giving you 1 talaaq in writing so you cannot deny it". We have not had any intimate or sexual contact in the last year.

My question is: Is my nikah over and am I allowed to re-marry? I understand that my iddah started from the point where he gave me this one talaaq and lasts for 3 menstrual cycles. The 3 menstrual cycles are over now but I did not observe iddah in the correct manner as I did not know at that time that I was in iddah.

Q: I have a few questions to ask regarding divorce. I was married to my cousin for 7 years, he came to Canada last year in 2016 and tried to break my virginity; however, he was unable to break my virginity. After that he never came near me. I got divorced this year in the beginning of August. He is still living in the same house where I live in but in different bedrooms. I would like answers for 3 questions:

1. He is my na-mahram now so should he be living in the same house as me?

2. I received a divorce from the Canadian government, but does my ex husband have to say divorce 3 times to me for me to be legally divorced in Islam?

3. How long is my iddah period and what are the restrictions associated with it ? I work full time so how will my iddah period work?

Q: A lady is sitting in iddat at her mothers house in Durban (the couple were not living together since few months. Now her only place where she can stay is by her mom). Her mother needs to go Cape Town for 1 or 2 weeks. Her mother is her only family in Durban, the rest of the family and her (ex) in laws as well are all in Cape Town. The query is that, can she go along with her mother and stay in iddat in one house (her brothers house) for the duration and when her mother returns to Durban she returns with her and complete the remaining iddat?

Q: My husband gave me one talaaq a week ago but now it just so happened that we had intercourse again. I want to know is the talaaq still valid and if we are still divorced because he said that sleeping together after the talaaq does not mean we are married again.

Q: Me and my husband are separated due to him saying talaak to me in anger. He has been trying to take me back since I came back to my family but they are against it. After a lot of explaining, they have now agreed but it has taken me three months meaning three menstrual cycles have been completed. Is my iddah period over? How should we go about it? Can we still get back together?

Q: I have had issues with my husbad for several years now. Last week on 15th July he issued me with 2 talaaqs during an argument. He said the word talaaq and then also said divorce. I asked a local mufti who advised me that it is talaaq e rujoo and that I am in iddah until my husband and I reconcile. I was advised that we should reconcile in front of 2 witnesses, because we've had issues for some time. I said that I wanted to put some conditins to my husband and if he agreed then we could move forward. Mufti sahib said that as long as the conditions were within the shariah hudood it was fine. Unfortunately my husband is not willing to compromise, hence I am still at my parents in the state of Iddah. I am praying we will reconcile within the time limit of 3 haiz, but currently I am in the state of Iddah.

My question is: I am the sole wage earner, my husband does not work, I pay the wages and support my 4 children. I am also the headteacher of 3 Muslim schools, my absence from school has, and will create major problems for the operation of the school. In these conditions am I able to continue working whist in iddah? I am a follower of the Hanafi school of thought. Please advise.

Q: My husband and I have been married for 15 years, we have two children. About 7 years into our marriage i discovered that he was not being faithful and was seeing a woman. At the time I decided to carry on with our marriage dispite of this. For the sake of my children. However his affairs continued one after the other. He would apologise and I would carry on, again for the sake of our children. About two years ago I could no longer accept what he was doing and he made me feel impure. So I no longer allowed him in my bed. From that day till last night he has not mentioned or discussed why I won't let him sleep with me. Last night he told me he wanted to be with someone else and he couldn't live like this anymore. Fair enough. He said he will be looking for another partner to marry, he said he will have to talk to other women and court them to find the one he wants to marry. I said to him that this is harram as he is married to me. He can divorce me and then be with whoever he wants to be with. He then divorced me once. My question is what is divorcing once mean? Am I no longer married to him? What should I do to ensure I follow the correct rulings in regards to divourse in Islam?