upon as invalid by the scholars. Thus, a man divorces his wife three times; after she completes her waiting period and becomes irrevocably separated from him, she marries another man under a contract whose conditions are fully met. He consummates the marriage and has intercourse with her. Then a trustworthy woman testifies that she breastfed both the second husband and his wife. Does she become lawful for the first husband? She does not become lawful for the first husband, because it has become clear that this contract was void and that the man was not truly a husband.

Likewise, if she marries without a guardian—according to those who hold that a guardian is a condition for the validity of marriage—she does not become lawful for him. For example, a man divorces his wife three times and she completes her waiting period. Another man then marries her without a guardian—according to the view of those who consider a guardian a condition for the validity of marriage—and she does not become lawful for the first husband.

Another example: a man divorces his wife three times and she completes her waiting period. She then marries another man, and the person who conducts her marriage contract is her maternal grandfather. The second husband consummates the marriage, then divorces her, and her waiting period ends. Does she become lawful for the first husband? She does not, because the maternal grandfather is not a guardian. Thus, she married without a guardian, making the marriage invalid; therefore, she does not become lawful for the first husband.

His statement, “nor during menstruation,” means that the second husband marries her in a valid marriage and has intercourse with her while she is menstruating, then divorces her. She does not become lawful for the first husband, because this intercourse is forbidden as a right due to Allah, the Exalted; hence, she does not become lawful through it—just as prayer performed in a usurped place is invalid.

His statement, “nor during postnatal bleeding,” likewise means that she does not become lawful through intercourse during postnatal bleeding, because intercourse during postnatal bleeding is forbidden and therefore cannot make her lawful. For example, if her first husband divorces her while she is pregnant, and she gives birth, thereby completing her waiting period, then another man marries her