His statement, “her waiting period is not ended by it,” means that the waiting period is not ended by it. This is because no fetus can be born before six months and survive, since the shortest gestation at which a fetus can survive is six months. If it does not survive, however, the waiting period ends with it. It has previously been explained that if she delivers something in which human features can be discerned—even if the soul has not yet been breathed into it—the waiting period ends with it. But if it survives despite being born in less than six months, it is known that it is not his child.

From the author’s words—may Allah have mercy on him—we understand that, for a pregnancy to end the waiting period, two conditions are required:

First: it must be legally attributed to the man whose waiting period she is observing.

Second: human features must be discernible in it.

His statement, “The maximum duration of pregnancy is four years, its minimum is six months, and its usual duration is nine months”: pregnancy has a minimum, a maximum, and a usual duration. Its usual duration is nine months, as is well known. Its minimum is six months, as indicated by the Quran. Allah, Most High, says: “His gestation and weaning take thirty months” [al-Ahqaf: 15]. And He says: “His weaning is in two years” [Luqman: 14]. Thus, if we assign two years to weaning, six months remain for pregnancy. This is clear.

His statement, “Its maximum duration is four years”: there is no evidence for this in either the Quran or the sunnah. The scholars therefore differed concerning it. Some said four years; some said two years; some said six years; and some said seven years. Others said that there is no limit to its maximum duration, because the Quran indicates its minimum but does not mention its maximum, and because sound reasoning