peace be upon them both—said: “By Allah, I shall go around ninety women tonight, each of whom will bear a boy who will fight in the cause of Allah.” An angel said to him, “Say: ‘If Allah wills.’” But he did not say it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Had he said, ‘If Allah wills,’ he would not have broken his oath, and it would have enabled him to attain what he sought.” (1) Another wording states: “Had he said, ‘If Allah wills,’ they would all have fought in the cause of Allah as horsemen.” (2) Even though it was separated.

Thus, the correct view is that as long as the speech remains one utterance, the exception is valid. This happens frequently: a man says, “All of you are divorced,” then regrets it and, after a pause, says, “Except so-and-so.”

Likewise, if he says, “You are divorced three times,” then pauses, regrets it, and says, “Except one,” the correct view is that it is valid, because the evidence is clear. As for the length of the pause in silence, it is determined by customary practice.

His statement, “If it is separated, and speech without it was possible, it is invalid”: that is, if the exception is separated and it was possible to speak between it and that from which it is excepted, the exception is invalid because of the separation. The same applies if he speaks between them with unrelated speech. For if silence during which he is able to speak invalidates the exception, then actual speech does so all the more. Thus, if he speaks about something outside the subject under discussion, having no connection with what is excepted, the exception is invalid, and it does not