His statement, “otherwise”: that is, if he says, “I had no particular intention,” or, “I do not know which one I intended,” then the author says: “the one who draws the lot.” Better wording would be, “the one for whom the lot is drawn,” because she is not the one prevailing, but the one over whom the lot is cast.

Thus, his statement, “the one for whom the lot is drawn,” means that the lot falls upon her, not that it is cast by her. There is no means available to us other than drawing lots. For were we to say that both women are divorced, we would be holding him to something he did not commit himself to, since he said, “One of you.” If we were to say that both women are divorced, that would be unjust to him—indeed, unjust to the wife as well. Nor is it injustice to the wife alone; rather, it is also injustice to whoever marries her after him. But if we say that one of them is divorced, then which one? There is no recourse except drawing lots.

If he says, “At the time of the divorce I did not intend either one in particular, but now I choose so-and-so,” is she then specified? We say: the apparent meaning of the author’s words is that lots must be drawn. What appears correct, however, is that there is nothing wrong with his specifying her. Since he left the matter unspecified, while he is the one accountable for it, and then specifies her, we defer to his specification and say: the one he specifies is divorced.

One way of drawing lots, for example, is to prepare two slips of paper: on one is written, “Divorced,” while the other is left blank. Whichever woman draws the slip bearing the word “Divorced” is divorced.

Drawing lots is established for determining between any two equal claims where there is no basis for distinguishing one from the other. It is a legal ruling established in the Quran and the sunnah. In the Quran, it occurs in two places:

The first is Allah’s statement concerning Jonah: “Then he drew lots and was among those selected.” [al-Saffat: 141]