If he says to a woman whose marriage has not been consummated, “You are divorced, and divorced,” it is like saying, “You are divorced by one divorce accompanied by another divorce,” because the conjunction “and” indicates joint occurrence, not sequence. Thus, two divorces take effect upon her, just as they do in the case of a woman whose marriage has been consummated.

Thus, two cases are excluded from the scenarios mentioned by the author: if he says, “You are divorced by one divorce accompanied by another divorce,” or if he says, “You are divorced, and divorced.” The author’s wording implies that she becomes irrevocably separated by one of the two divorces and that the second divorce is not counted. The position of the legal school, however, is that she is divorced by two divorces.

His statement, “A conditional divorce is like an immediate divorce in this regard”: a conditional divorce is one whose occurrence is made contingent upon something by means of “if” or a similar conditional expression. For example, if he says, “If you do such-and-such, then you are divorced; you are divorced; you are divorced,” she is divorced three times. Likewise, if he says, “When the sun rises, you are divorced; then you are divorced; then you are divorced,” it counts as three divorces. Apply this principle accordingly, for a conditional divorce is like an immediate divorce.

We shall come, Allah willing, in the chapter on making divorce conditional upon stipulations, to the point that—according to the stronger view—conditional divorce falls into three categories: a purely conditional divorce, an oath, and that which lies between the two.