﴿ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍۢ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا ۖ فَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ وَسَرِّحُوهُنَّ سَرَاحًۭا جَمِيلًۭا ﴾

“O YOU who have attained to faith! If you marry believing women and then divorce them ere you have touched them, you have no reason to expect, and to calculate, any waiting period on their part: hence, make [at once] provision for them, and release them in a becoming manner.”

If a man marries a woman, but divorces her before the marriage is consummated, the waiting period (‘iddah) does not have to be observed, as happens in ordinary cases. But Islamic ethical considerations demand that the separation of husband and wife should be as dignified as their coming together was. If some alimony (mahr) was fixed for the concerned lady, then the man shall have to repay half of that. Otherwise, she should be graciously sent off after being given some amount commensurate with her status and the man’s capacity to pay. The woman is permitted to enter into a second marriage immediately, if she wants to do so. There is no need for her to observe the waiting period.