considered to be separated from her husband, and so she must leave him; however, this divorce is not deemed effective.

Second: his statement, “legally accountable,” meaning one who has reached maturity and is of sound mind. Thus, a minor is excluded by the condition of maturity, and an insane person by the condition of soundness of mind. Regarding a minor, however, he said: “and a discerning child who understands it.” Thus, the divorce pronounced by a discerning minor who understands divorce is valid.

As mentioned previously, the established position in the madhhab is that discernment is determined by age, namely seven years. The second view is that it is determined by one’s state: a discerning child is one who understands what is said to him and can give an answer. Yet the author also stipulates that the discerning child must understand it. The phrase “who understands it” should be taken as applying to all these descriptions—to one who is legally accountable as well as to a discerning child—because a person who does not understand the meaning of divorce cannot effect a divorce, even if he is legally accountable. Thus, if we suppose that a non-Arab man who does not know the meaning of divorce utters the word in Arabic, without understanding it, his divorce does not take effect, because he does not understand its meaning.

The same applies if a discerning child says to his wife, “You are divorced.” We would ask him, “Do you know what ‘You are divorced’ means?” If he says, “It means that she is no longer tied,” does he understand divorce or not? The answer is that he does not understand it; therefore, his divorce does not take effect.

But if we asked him, “Do you know what divorce is?” and he replied, “Yes. Divorce means that separation has occurred between her and me, and that she is no longer my wife,” then he understands it, and his divorce takes effect.

The evidence for stipulating that he understand it is the Prophet’s saying: “Actions are only