only, and then she becomes lawful to him. For we say: the second husband has erased what the first husband had [of remaining divorces]; this is why he made her lawful for him, even though she had previously been unlawful to him.

Some scholars hold that, in the first scenario, if she marries [another man], the second husband erases the previous divorces, even if they were fewer than three. However, the sound view is that adopted by the author: if the first husband has not divorced her three times, the second husband’s marriage has no effect, because she is lawful to her first husband whether she marries another man or not.