Executing a divorce, in Islam, is a choice which pertains to the husband; hence, women cannot divorce themselves from their spouses. The husband’s not paying his wife’s canonically-required expenses (nafaqah) does not constitute a right to divorce. Consequently, the issue of the ‘iddah and when it ought to be initiated does not rise in the first place. However, the woman is entitled to request a divorce, from her husband, from the Canonical Authority; the latter may enforce the man either to pay his wife the nafaqah or to divorce his wife, if necessary, in her absence. Assuming a man abandons paying his wife the nafaqah without a canonically-legitimate excuse, a divorce may be executed and the ‘iddah will commence thereafter. Today, thanks to modern technological means of communication such as e-mails, telephones etc., Muslim women all around the globe have access to religious and canonical Islamic authorities, thus being able to raise their issues (e.g. being abandoned by their husbands, not being given their nafaqah…) with the relevant sources and be able to attain a canonically valid divorce, albeit in their absence.