the Exalted: “And give the orphans their property.” [al-Nisa 3] Yet we cannot give an orphan his property until he has reached maturity, while Allah still calls them orphans in consideration of what they formerly were. We say: But there is evidence for this. In Surat Yusuf, one of the two prison companions said: “Indeed, I saw myself pressing wine.” [12:36] Yet he was pressing grapes; it was called wine in consideration of what it would become. Thus, if someone says that the words, “Their husbands have more right to take them back during that period,” are in consideration of what has passed, we say: No. The basic principle is to understand speech according to its apparent meaning.

Therefore, if a man who has issued a revocable divorce dies while his wife is still in her waiting period, she inherits from him; and if she dies, he inherits from her, because they are still legally married. This is why the author said: “Rather, in the case of a revocable divorce whose waiting period has not ended.” If the waiting period ends, she becomes irrevocably separated from him, and there is no mutual inheritance.

If someone were to say: “If he divorces her revocably during his feared fatal illness and dies from it, she inherits because her waiting period has not ended; but if her waiting period ends, she does not inherit. Yet if he irrevocably divorces her during the illness, her waiting period ends, and then he dies, she inherits”—we say: This issue may initially appear to be the opposite of what it is. A man divorces his wife revocably during his fatal illness, her waiting period ends, and then he dies: she does not inherit. Another man irrevocably divorces his wife during his feared fatal illness, and dies after her waiting period has ended: she inherits. At first glance, one might expect the reverse.

The answer is: No. Once an irrevocably divorced woman has been separated from her husband, she inherits from him from the time of the divorce, because he is suspected of intending to deprive her of inheritance. In the case of a revocably divorced woman, however, her right to inherit ends when her waiting period ends. During that period, she may die and he would inherit from her; whereas if an irrevocably divorced woman dies, he does not inherit from her. This is the difference.

Thus, the cutoff point for a revocably divorced woman’s inheritance is the end of her waiting period, whether it was