disbelievers. They are not lawful for them, nor are they lawful for them.” [al-Mumtahanah 60:10] Thus, approximately eighteen years elapsed between his embracing Islam and hers. The Prophet ﷺ restored her to him under the original marriage contract and did not renew the marriage. This is very clear evidence.

Likewise, the wife of Safwan ibn Umayyah embraced Islam one month before he did, for she embraced Islam in the year of the Conquest, whereas he did not embrace Islam until after the Battle of Ta'if. The Prophet ﷺ affirmed his marriage to her (1).

Shaykh al-Islam says: “By analogy, either the marriage is dissolved merely by the difference in religion, as Ibn Hazm held, because the cause of separation has arisen—if we say that Islam is a cause of separation—or the matter remains as outwardly indicated by the sunnah: namely, that there is no dissolution. Yet, so long as she is observing the waiting period, she is prevented from marrying, in order to preserve the right of the first husband. Once the waiting period has ended, if she wishes to marry, she may marry; and if she wishes to wait, hoping that her husband may embrace Islam, there is no harm in that.”

What he said is supported by the evidence; indeed, it is the sound analogy.

Know that it is reported in the hadith of Ibn Abbas, in the account of Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi, that six years elapsed between his embracing Islam and Zaynab's embracing Islam (2). However, Ibn al-Qayyim says: “This is an error.”