who is discerning. This view is supported by the apparent meaning of the Quran. Allah says:
“And if you divorce them before you have touched them, but after having specified a bridal gift for them, then half of what you specified is due.” [2:237]
The apparent meaning of His words, “before you have touched them,” is that if he has been alone with her without intercourse, she is entitled to nothing more.
His statement, “by legal operation,” means that half enters his ownership whether he wishes it or not; it is the opposite of voluntary choice. That is, he is entitled to half of it whether he chooses to take it or not. This is like inheritance: if a person dies leaving, for example, his full sister, she receives half of the estate whether she accepts it or refuses it. Likewise, when he divorces her, he is entitled to half by legal operation—that is, compulsorily. The evidence is Allah’s saying:
“And if you divorce them before you have touched them, but after having specified a bridal gift for them, then half of what you specified is due, unless they waive it or the one in whose hand is the marriage bond waives it.” [2:237]
His words, “then half of what you specified is due,” may mean either that it is due to you from them or that it is due from you to them, except when “they waive it”—that is, the women. The final nūn is the feminine plural pronoun. For this reason, this issue is posed as a grammatical riddle to beginners in Arabic grammar: had it been one of the five verbs, the wording would have been yaʿfū rather than yaʿfūna.
Allah’s words, “or the one in whose hand is the marriage bond waives it”: it has been said that this refers to the guardian, and it has also been said that it refers to the husband. The correct view is that it refers to the husband, for the marriage bond is in his hand: he may dissolve it if he wishes. Thus, the meaning is: unless the wives waive their right, or the husbands waive theirs. If the husband waives his right, the whole of it belongs to the wife; and if the wife waives her right, the whole of it belongs to the husband.
Thus, Allah’s words, “then half of what you specified is due,” can mean either that it is due to you or that it is due from you. This is part of the Quran’s eloquence, because the bridal gift may already have been received or may not yet have been received. If she has received it, then understand it as: “then half of what you specified is due to you.”