Where does it state that? The verse is relating to whether a women is pregnant based on whether the individual has a period for three months or not - which goes back to the issue regarding divorce.
http://www.masjidtucson.org/quran/noframes/ch65.htmlAs for the women who have reached menopause, if you have any doubts, their interim shall be three months. As for those who do not menstruate, and discover that they are pregnant, their interim ends upon giving birth. Anyone who reverences GOD, He makes everything easy for him.
That's a terrible translation.
This is what Ibn Kathir has to say on the matter
http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=65&tid=54223Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228]
The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation. Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying;
Why this verse was revealed:When the Ayah in Surat Al-Baqarah was revealed prescribing the `Iddah of divorce, some people in Al-Madinah said, `There are still some women whose `Iddah has not been mentioned in the Qur'an.
There are the young, the old whose menstruation is discontinued, and the pregnant.' Later on, this Ayah was revealed,
Here's another tafsir:
http://www.islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=65*13
They may not have menstruated as yet either because of young age, or delayed menstrual discharge as it happens in the case of some women, or because of no discharge at aII throughout life which, though rare, may also be the case. In any case, the waiting-period of such a woman is the same as of the woman, who has stopped menstruation, that is three months from the time divorce was pronounced.
Here is Hassan's take on the verse:
OK to verse 4 of At-Talaq. To me the verse is clearly speaking about 3 special categories: Women who don't have their period because they are: 1. Too old 2. Too young. 3. Are pregnant.
The words for the second group is: لم يمحضن which is the verb: "To Menstruate" and the negative particle meaning "Haven't/didn't/not..."
So it literally means: "They haven't menstruated."
I have a large selection of the classical tafseers at home and took a look in all of them for you. They all say it means those who have not started menstruating because they are too young. I also have a modern tafseer by As-Sabooni that gathers all the comments of the scholars. He also says it means girls who haven't started menstruating because of their youth.
Of course I could be wrong and Shabbir Whatsisname could be right that it really does mean "women who haven't menstruated because of physiological defects" He and the handful of modernists may have unlocked the secret meaning of this verse that Scholars for 1400 years could not.
But I have to admit it sounds extremely weak to me - to say the least! To say that it means those who can't for physiological reasons, makes no sense, since it says: "Those who haven't" (which implies they can) and it doesn't say; "Those who can't." It would actually have made more sense to use the first group where it uses the verb "despaired" for those who can't (i.e. because they are too old or because of physiological reasons.)
You also appear to suggest that it could just mean women in general who do have periods but who have just not had it yet. But that makes no sense since verse 1 to 3 has already dealt with women in general. Verse 4 is about special cases (Young, Old or Pregnant.)
Of course you can make up your own mind.
I hope that helps.
Peace,
Hassan.
http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=8240.176