Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from a mawla of Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd that she gave all that she possessed to her husband as compensation for her divorce from him, and Abdullah ibn Umar did not disapprove of that.

Malik said that divorce was ratified for a woman who ransomed herself from her husband, when it was known that her husband was detrimental to her and was oppressive for her, and it was known that he wronged her, and he had to return her property to her. Malik added, "This is what I have heard, and it is what is done among us."

Malik said, "There is no harm if a woman ransoms herself from her husband for more than he gave her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Sahl ibn Sad as-Saidi told him that Uwaymir al-Ajlani came to Asim ibn Adi al- Ansari and said to him, "Asim! What do you think a man who finds another man with his wife should do? Should he kill him and then be killed himself, or what should .he do? Asim! ask the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about that for me." Asim asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was revolted by the questions and reproved them until what he heard from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. was intolerable for Asim. When Asim returned to his people, Uwaymir came to him and said, " Asim! what did the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say to you?" Asim said to Uwaymir, "You didn't bring me any good. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was revolted by the question which I asked him." Uwaymir said, "By Allah! I will not stop until I ask him about it!" Uwaymir stood up and went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the middle of the people and said, "Messenger of Allah! What do you think a man who finds another man with his wife should do? Should he kill him and then be killed himself, or what should he do?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Something has been sent down about you and your wife, so go and bring her."

Sahl continued, "They mutually cursed one another in the presence of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and I was present with the people. When they finished cursing each other, Uwaymir said, 'I shall have lied about her, Messenger of Allah, if I keep her,' and pronounced the divorce three times before the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered him to do it."

Malik said that Ibn Shihab said, "That was how the sunna of a couple mutually cursing each other was established (lian)."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafic from Abdullah ibn Umar that a man cursed his wife in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and disowned her child. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, separated them and gave the child to the woman.

Malik said, "Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, 'The testimony of men who accuse their wives but do not have any witnesses except themselves is to testify by Allah four times that he is being truthful, and a fifth time, that the curse of Allah will be upon him, if he should be a liar. She will avoid punishment if she testifies by Allah four times that he is a liar, and a fifth time, that the wrath of Allah shall be upon her, if he should be telling the truth. ' "(Sura 24 ayat 6).

Malik said, "The sunna with us is that those who curse each other are never to be remarried. If the man calls himself a liar, (i.e. takes back his accusation), he is flogged with the hadd-punishment, and the child is given to him, and his wife can never return to him. There is no doubt or dispute about this sunna among us. "

Malik said, "If a man separates from his wife by an irrevocable divorce by which he cannot return to her, and then he denies the paternity of the child she is carrying, whilst she claims that he is the father, and it is possible by the timing, that he be so, he must curse her, and the child is not recognised as his."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us, and it is what I have heard from the people of knowledge."

Malik said that a man who accused his wife after he had divorced her trebly while she was pregnant, and he had at first accepted being the father but then claimed that he had seen her committing adultery before he separated from her, was flogged with the hadd-punishment, and did not curse her.

If he denied the paternity of her child after he had divorced her trebly, and he had not previously accepted it, then he cursed her.

Malik said, "This is what I have heard."

Malik said, "The slave is in the same position as the free man as regards making accusations and invoking mutual curses (lian). He acts in the lian as the free man acts although there is no hadd applied for slandering a female-slave."

Malik said, "The muslim slave-girl and the christian and jewish free woman also do lian when a free muslim marries one of them and has intercourse with her. That is because Allah - may He be blessed and Exalted, said in His Book, 'As for those who accuse their wives,' and they are their wives. This is what is done among us.

Malik said that a man who did the lian with his wife, and then stopped and called himself a liar after one or two oaths and he had not cursed himself in the fifth one, had to be flogged with the hadd-punishment, but they did not have to be separated.

Malik said that if a man divorced his wife and then after three months the woman said, "I am pregnant," and he denied paternity, then he had to do lian.

Malik said that the husband of a female slave who pronounced the lian on her and then bought her, was not to have intercourse with her, even if he owned her. The sunna which had been handed down about a couple who mutually cursed each other in the lian was that they were never to return to each other.

Malik said that when a man pronounced the lian against his wife before he had consummated the marriage, she only had half of the bride price.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that `Urwa ibn az-Zubayr said that if the child of the woman against whom li`an had been pronounced or the child of fornication, died, his mother inherited from him her right in the Book of Allah the Exalted, and his maternal half-brothers had their rights. The rest was inherited by the owners of his mother's wala' if she was a freed slave. If she was an ordinary free woman, she inherited her right, his maternal brothers inherited their rights, and the rest went to the Muslims.

Malik said,"I heard the same as that from Sulayman ibn Yasar, and it is what I saw the people of knowledge in our city doing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Thawban that Muhammad ibn Iyas ibn al-Bukayr said, "A man divorced his wife three times before he had consummated the marriage, and then it seemed good to him to marry her. Therefore, he wanted an opinion, and I went with him to ask Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra on his behalf about it, and they said, 'We do not think that you should marry her until she has married another husband.' He protested that his divorcing her had been only once. Ibn Abbas said, 'You threw away what you had of blessing.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Bukayr ibn Abdullah al-Ashajj from an-Numan ibn Abi Ayyash al Ansari from Ata ibn Yasar that a man came and asked Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As about a man who divorced his wife three times before he had had intercourse with her Ata said, "The divorce of the virgin is one. Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As said to me, 'You say one pronouncement separates her and three makes her haram until she has married another husband.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Bukayr ibn Abdullah al-Ashajj informed him that Muawiya ibn Abi Ayyash al- Ansari told him that he was sitting with Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr and Asim ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab when Muhammad ibn Iyas ibn al-Bukayr came up to them and said, "A man from the desert has divorced his wife three times before consummating the marriage, what do you think?" Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr said "This is something about which we have no statement. Go to Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra. I left them with A'isha. Ask them and then come and tell us." He went and asked them. Ibn Abbas said to Abu Hurayra, "Give an opinion, Abu Hurayra! A difficult one has come to you." Abu Hurayra said, "One pronouncement separates her and three makes her haram until she has married another husband." Ibn Abbas said the like of that.

Malik said, "That is what is done among us, and when a man marries a woman who has been married before, and he has not had intercourse with her, she is treated as a virgin - one pronouncement separates her and three make her haram until she has married another husband."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Talha ibn Abdullah ibn Awf said, and he knew that better than them, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf divorced his wife irrevocably while he was terminally ill, and Uthman ibn Affan made her an heir after the end of her idda.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn al-Fadl from al- Araj that Uthman ibn Affan made the wives of ibn Mukmil inherit from him, and he had divorced them while he was terminally ill.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman say, ''I heard that the wife of Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf asked him to divorce her. He said, 'When you have menstruated and are pure, then come to me.' She did not menstruate until Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf was ill. When she was purified, she told him and he divorced her irrevocably or made a pronouncement of divorce which was all that he had left over her Abd arRahman ibn Awf was terminally ill at the time, so Uthman ibn Affan made her one of the heirs after the end of her idda."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban said, "My grandfather Habban had two wives, one from the Hashimites and one from the Ansars. He divorced the Ansariyya while she was nursing, and a year passed and he died and she had still not yet menstruated. She said, 'I inherit from him. I have not menstruated yet.' The wives quarrelled and went to Uthman ibn Affan. He decided that she did inherit, and the Hashimiyya rebuked Uthman. He said, 'This is the practice of the son of your paternal uncle. He pointed this out to us.' He meant Ali ibn Abi Talib."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard Ibn Shihab say, "When a man who is terminally ill divorces his wife three times, she inherits from him."

Malik said, "If he divorces her while he is terminally ill before he has consummated the marriage, she has half of the bride-price and inherits, and she does not have to do an idda. If he consummated the marriage, she has all the dowry and inherits. The virgin and the previously married woman are the same in this situation according to us."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "Every divorced woman has compensation."

Malik said, "I have also heard the same as that from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad."

Malik said, "There is no fixed limit among us as to how small or large the compensation is."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from Sulayman ibn Yasar that Nufay, a mukatab of Umm Salama the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or her slave, had a free woman as a wife. He divorced her twice, and then he wanted to return to her. The wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered him to go to Uthman ibn Affan to ask him about it. He found him at ad-Daraj with Zayd ibn Thabit. He asked them, and they both anticipated him and said, "She is haram for you. She is haram for you."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that Nufay, a mukatab of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, divorced his free wife twice, so he asked Uthman ibn Affan for an opinion, and he said, "She is haram for you."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdu Rabbih ibn Said from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Harith at-Taymi that Nufay, a mukatab of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked Zayd ibn Thabit for an opinion. He said, "I have divorced my free wife twice." Zayd ibn Thabit said, "She is haram for you."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "When the slave divorces his wife twice, she is haram for him until she has married another husband, whether she is free or a slave. The idda of a free woman is three menstrual periods, and the idda of a slave-girl is two periods.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "If a man gives his slave permission to marry, the divorce is in the hand of the slave, and nobody else has any power over his divorce. Nothing is held against a man who takes the slave-girl of his male slave or the slave-girl of his female-slave."

Malik said, "Neither a free man nor a slave who divorces a slave- girl nor a slave who divorces a free woman, in an irrevocable divorce, is obliged to pay maintenance even if she is pregnant, and he cannot return to her."

Malik said, "A free man is not obliged to pay for the suckling of his son when he is a slave of other people, nor is a slave obliged to spend his money for what his master owns except with the permission of his master."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Said ibn al-Musayyab that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "The woman who loses her husband and does not know where he is, waits for four years, then she does idda for four months, and then she is free to marry."

Malik said, "If she marries after her idda is over, regardless of whether the new husband has consummated the marriage or not, her first husband has no means of access to her."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us and if her husband reaches her before she has remarried, he is more entitled to her."

Malik said that he had seen people disapproving of someone who said that one of the people (of knowledge) attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab that he said, "Her first husband chooses when he comes either her bride-price or his wife."

Malik said, "I have heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab, speaking about a woman whose husband divorced her while he was absent from her, and then he took her back and the news of his taking her back had not reached her, while the news of his divorcing her had, and so she had married again, said, 'Her first husband who divorced her has no means of access to her whether or not the new husband has consummated the marriage.' "

Malik said, "This is what I like the best of what I heard about the missing man."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar divorced his wife while she was menstruating in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Go and tell him to take her back and keep her until she is purified and then has a period and then is purified. Then if he wishes, he an keep her, and if he wishes he should divorce her before he has intercourse with her. That is the idda which Allah has commanded for women who are divorced."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr from A'isha, umm al-muminin, that she took Hafsa ibn Abd ar- Rahman ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddiq into her house when she had entered the third period of her idda. Ibn Shihab said, "That was mentioned to Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman, and she said that Urwa had spoken the truth and people had argued with A'isha about it. They said that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'Three quru.' A'isha said, 'You spoke the truth. Do you know what quru are? Quru are times of becoming pure after menstruation .' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said that he heard Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman say, "I have never seen any of our fuqaha who did not say that this was what the statement of A'isha meant."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi and Zayd ibn Aslam from Sulayman ibn Yasar that al-Ahwas died in Syria when his wife had begun her third menstrual period after he had divorced her. Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan wrote and asked Zayd ibn Thabit about that. Zayd wrote to him, "When she began her third period, she was free from him and he was free from her, and he does not inherit from her nor she from him."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman and Sulayman ibn Yasar and Ibn Shihab used to say, "When the divorced woman enters the beginning of her third period, she is clearly separated from her husband and there is no inheritance between them and he has no access to her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "When a man divorces his wife and she begins her third period, she is free from him and he is free from her."

Malik said, "This is how things are done among us."

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Fudayl ibn Abi Abdullah, the mawla of al-Mahri that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Salim ibn Abdullah said, "When a woman is divorced and begins her third period, she is clearly separated from him and is free to marry again."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab and Ibn Shihab and Sulayman ibn Yasar all said, "The idda of the woman with a khul divorce is three periods."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Ibn Shihab say, "The idda of the divorced woman is reckoned by the menstrual cycles even if she is estranged ." (The reason the idda is normally reckoned by the menstrual cycle is to see whether the woman is pregnant or not.)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from a man of the Ansar that his wife asked him for a divorce, and he said to her, "When you have had your period, then tell me." When she had her period, she told him. He said, "When you are purified then tell me." When she was purified, she told him and he divorced her.

Malik said, "This is the best of what I have heard about it."

Yahya related to me from Malik thal Yahya ibn Said heard al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Sulayman ibn Yasar both mention that Yahya ibn Said ibn al-As divorced the daughter of Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hakam irrevocably, so Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Hakam took her away A'isha umm al-muminin sent to Marwan ibn al-Hakam who was the Amir of al-Madina at that time. She said, "Fear Allah and make him return the woman to her house." Marwan said in what Sulayman related, ''Abd ar-Rahman has the upper hand over me." Marwan said in what al-Qasim related, "Hasn't the affair of Fatima bint Qays reached you?" A'isha said, "You are forced to mention the story of Fatima " Marwan said, "If you know that evil, whatever evil there was between those two is enough for you." (See hadith 67.)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that the daughter of Said ibn Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl was the wife of Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Uthman ibn Affan, and he divorced her irrevocably and she moved out. Abdullah ibn Umar rebuked her for that.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar divorced one of his wives in the house of Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was on the way to the mosque. He went another route from behind the houses being averse to ask permission to enter until he returned to her.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyab was asked who was obliged to pay the rent for a woman whose husband divorced her while she was in a leased house. Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "Her husband is obliged to pay it." Someone asked, "what if her husband does not have it?" He said, "Then she must pay it." Someone asked, "And if she does not have it?" He said, "Then the Amir must pay it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Yazid, the mawla of al-Aswad ibn Sufyan from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Fatima bint Qays that Abu Amr ibn Hafs divorced her absolutely while he was away in Syria. His agent sent her some barley and she was displeased with it, saying, "By Allah, I don't expect anything from you." She went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned it to him. He said, "You have no maintenance." He then ordered her to spend her idda in the house of Umm Sharik. Then he said, "This is a woman whom my companions visit. Spend the idda in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum. He is a blind man and you can undress at his home. When you are free to remarry, tell me."

She continued, "When I was free to remarry, I mentioned to him that Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan and Abu Jahm ibn Hisham had asked for me in marriage. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'As for Abu Jahm, he never puts down his stick from his shoulder (i.e. he is always travelling), and as for Muawiya he is a poor man with no property. Marry Usama ibn Zayd.' I objected to him and he said, 'Marry Usama ibn Zayd,' so I married him, and Allah put good in it and I was content with him."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Ibn Shihab say, "The woman who is absolutely divorced does not leave her house until she is free to remarry. She has no maintenance unless she is pregnant. In that circumstance the husband spends on her until she gives birth."

Malik said, "This is what is done among us."

Malik said, "What is done among us when a slave divorces a slave- girl when she is a slave and then she is set free, is that her idda is the idda of a slave-girl, and her being set free does not change her idda whether or not he can still return to her. Her idda is not altered."

Malik added, "The hadd-punishment which a slave incurs is the same as this. When he is freed after he has incurred but before the punishment has been executed, his hadd is the hadd of the slave."

Malik said, "When a free man divorces a slave-girl three times, her idda is two periods. When a slave divorces a free woman twice, her idda is three periods."

Malik said about a man who had a slave-girl as a wife, and he bought her and set her free, ''Her idda is the idda of a slave-girl, i.e. two periods, as long as he has not had intercourse with her. If he has had intercourse with her after buying her and before he set her free, she only has to wait until one period has passed . "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al- Musayyab said, "The idda of the woman who bleeds constantly is a year."

Malik said, "What is done among us about a divorced woman whose periods stop when her husband divorces her is that she waits nine months. If she has not had a period in them, she has an idda of three months. If she has a period before the end of the three months, she accepts the period. If another nine months pass without her having a period, she does an idda of three months. If she has a second period before the end of those three months, she accepts the period. If nine months then pass without a period, she does an idda of three months. If she has a third period, the idda of the period is complete. If she does not have a period, she waits three months, and then she is free to marry. Her husband can return to her before she becomes free to marry unless he made her divorce irrevocable."

Malik said, "The sunna with us is that when a man divorces his wife and has the option to return to her, and she does part of her idda and then he returns to her and then parts from her before he has had intercourse with her, she does not add to what has passed of her idda. Her husband has wronged himself and erred if he returned to her and had no need of her."

Malik said, "What is done among us is that if a woman becomes a muslim while her husband is a kafir and then he becomes muslim, he is entitled to her as long as she is in her idda. If her idda is finished, he has no access to her. If he remarries her after the end of her idda, however, that is not counted as divorce. Islam removed her from him without divorce."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Ali ibn Abi Talib said about the two arbiters about whom Allah, the Exalted, said,"If you fear a breach between the two, appoint an arbiter from his people, and an arbiter from her people. If they desire to set things aright, Allah will make peace between them, surely Allah is Knowing, Aware," (Sura 4 ayat 35), that the separation and the joining were overseen by the two of them.

Malik said, "That is the best of what I have heard from the people of knowledge. Whatever the two arbiters say concerning separation or joining is taken into consideration "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al- Musayyab said, "If someone marries a woman and cannot have intercourse with her, there is a deadline of a year set for him to have intercourse with her. If he does not, they are separated."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab about whether the deadline was set from the day he had married her, or from the day she raised the question before the Sultan. He said. 'It is from the day she presents it before the Sultan.'

Malik said, "As for someone who has intercourse with his wife and then is prevented from intercourse with her, I have not heard that there is a deadline set for him or that they are separated."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to a man from Thaqif who had ten wives when he became muslim, 'Take four and separate from the rest.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said that he had heard Said ibn al-Musayyab, Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud, and Sulayman ibn Yasarall say, that they had heard Abu Hurayra say that he had heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say, "If a woman is divorced by her husband once or twice, and he leaves her until she is free to marry and she marries another husband and he dies or divorces her, and then she marries her first husband, she is with him according to what remains of her divorce."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us and there is no dispute about it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Thabit ibn al-Ahnaf that he married an umm walad of Abd ar-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn al-Khattab. He said, "Abdullah ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn al-Khattab summoned me and I went to him. I came in upon him and there were whips and two iron fetters placed there, and two of his slaves whom he had made to sit there. He said, 'Divorce her, or by He by whom one swears, I will do such-and-such to you!' I said, 'It is divorce a thousand times.' Then I left him and I saw Abdullah ibn Umar on the road to Makka and I told him about my situation. Abdullah ibn Umar was furious, and said, 'That is not divorce, and she is not haram for you, so return to your home.' I was still not at ease so I went to Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr who was the Amir of Makka at that time. I told him about my situation and what Abdullah ibn Umar had said to me. Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr said to me, 'She is not haram for you, so return to your home,' and he wrote to Jabir ibn al-Aswad az-Zuhra who was the Amir of Madina and ordered him to punish Abdullah ibn Abdar-Rahman and to have him leave me and my family alone. I went to Madina, and Safiyya, the wife of Abdullah ibn Umar fitted out my wife so that she could bring her to my house with the knowledge of Abdullah ibn Umar. Then I invited Abdullah ibn Umar on the day of my wedding to the wedding feast and he came."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Dinar said, "I heard Abdullah ibn Umar recite from the Qur'an, 'Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them at the beginning of their idda.'"

Malik said, "He meant by that, to make one pronouncement of divorce at the beginning of each period of purity."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said, "It used to be that a man would divorce his wife and then return to her before her idda was over, and that was alright, even if he divorced her a thousand times. The man went to his wife and then divorced her and when the end of her idda was in sight, he took her back and then divorced her and said, 'No! By Allah, I will not go to you and you will never be able to marry again.' Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, sent down, 'Divorce is twice, then honourable retention or setting free kindly.' People then turned towards divorce in a new light from that day whether or not they were divorced or not divorced."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Thawr ibn Zayd ad-Dili that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, sent down about a man who divorced his wife and then returned to her while he had no need of her and did not mean to keep her so as to make the idda period long for her by that in order to do her harm, "Do not retain them by force, to transgress. Whoever does that has wronged himself." (Sura 2 ayat 231). Allah warns them by that ayat.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdu Rabbih ibn Said ibn Qays that Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman said that Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra were asked when a pregnant woman whose husband had died could remarry. Ibn Abbas said, "At the end of two periods." Abu Hurayra said, "When she gives birth, she is free to marry." Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman visited Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and asked her about it Umm Salama said, ''Subaya al-Aslamiya gave birth half a month after the death of her husband, and two men asked to marry her. One was young and the other was old. She preferred the young man and so the older man said, 'You are not free to marry yet.' Her family were away and he hoped that when her family came, they would give her to him. She went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said, 'You are free to marry, so marry whomever you wish.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar was asked about a woman whose husband died while she was pregnant, and he said, "When she gives birth, she is free to marry." A man of the Ansar who was with him told him that Umar ibn al-Khattab had said, "Had she given birth while her husband was still on his bed, unburied, she would be free to marry."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn 'Urwa from his father that al-Miswar ibn Makhrama told him that Subaya al-Aslamiya gave birth a few nights after the death of her husband. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her, "You are free to marry, so marry whomever you wish."