he called him back and said, “Except for debt; Gabriel has just informed me of that.” (1)

Likewise, two reports are narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning the inheritance case known as al-Himariyyah: one report is that he excluded the full siblings from sharing alongside the uterine siblings, while the other is that he included them in the share. He said, “That was according to what we had ruled, whereas this is according to what we now rule.” (2)

Similarly, all the imams may have two opinions on a given issue. Abu Hanifah even said to a man, “Do not follow my opinion. Today I hold one view, and tomorrow I may hold another. Rather, adhere to the Book and the Sunnah.”

In summary, the question of divorce during menstruation is among the most important issues in this chapter. A person must investigate it as thoroughly as he can, until he reaches what he considers correct. There is no scope for caution in this matter; rather, it is a serious matter. Suppose that a man divorces a woman during her menstruation with the final divorce: either we declare her lawful for him, or we declare her unlawful to him until she marries another husband.

In any case, we have opened the avenues for you, and you are able to return to them. Among the finest works I have seen on this subject is Ibn al-Qayyim’s, may Allah have mercy on him, Zad al-Ma'ad. If you refer to it, the matter will become clear to you, Allah willing. As for Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, his words are generally concise. Yet in matters of divorce, when he became deeply involved in them, he investigated them thoroughly and cited abundant evidence. Ibn al-Qayyim clarifies his teacher’s words and at times