His words, “And a partially free slave woman is calculated proportionately,” mean that we have established that a slave woman’s waiting period is two months, so we add from the third month in proportion to the degree of freedom she possesses. Thus, if half of her is free, her waiting period becomes two and a half months, because the author says, “And a partially free slave woman is calculated proportionately.”

This issue supports the view of those who maintain that a slave woman’s waiting period, when measured in months because she does not menstruate due to young age or menopause, is a month and a half. The reason is that menstrual periods cannot be divided, whereas days can be divided. Hence, they said regarding a partially free slave woman that her share of the third month is calculated in proportion to her degree of freedom. This view is very sound; nevertheless, the more cautious view, without doubt, is the one adopted by the author: that a slave woman’s waiting period is two months.

His words, “A fraction is rounded up,” mean that if one quarter of her is free, then her waiting period would be two months and seven and a half days. But he says that the fraction is rounded up, making it two months and eight days.

The fifth case: If a woman’s menses cease and she does not know the reason, her waiting period is one year: nine months for pregnancy and three months for the waiting period; one month is deducted for a slave woman. The waiting period of a woman who has reached puberty but has not menstruated, a woman experiencing irregular bleeding who has forgotten her menstrual pattern, and a woman whose irregular bleeding has newly begun, is three months; for a slave woman, it is two months. If she knows what caused her menses to cease, whether illness, breastfeeding, or something else, then she remains in her waiting period until her menses return, whereupon she observes her waiting period by them, or until she reaches menopause, whereupon she observes its waiting period, ...

His words, “The fifth case: If a woman’s menses cease and she does not know the reason,” mean that she is among women who normally menstruate, but her menses have ceased. Such a woman falls into two categories:

The first is one whose menses have ceased and who does not know the reason.

The second is one whose menses have ceased and who knows the reason.

As for one whose menses have ceased and who does not know why, the author says:

“Her waiting period is one year: nine months for pregnancy and three months for the waiting period.” That is, a woman who normally menstruates, who is thirty years old and has not reached menopause, whose menses cease, and whose husband divorces her while she is in this condition—her waiting period is one year, because this is what was narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,