Chapter

The maintenance, clothing, and housing of a revocably divorced woman are the same as those of a wife, but she is not entitled to an allotted turn, …..

The author has divided women observing a waiting period into three categories: one category is like the wife, namely the revocably divorced woman; another is her opposite in every respect, namely the woman whose husband has died; and a third category requires further distinction, namely the irrevocably separated woman through annulment or divorce. Thus, the revocably divorced woman is like a wife and is entitled to maintenance. A woman irrevocably separated by her husband’s death is not entitled to maintenance. A woman irrevocably separated while her husband is alive is entitled to maintenance if she is pregnant; otherwise, she is not. This classification is exhaustive; nothing falls outside it.

A revocably divorced woman is one whom her husband divorces in a valid marriage, without compensation, after consummation or valid seclusion, and before he has exhausted the number of divorces at his disposal. Its conditions are therefore five. The author says:

“The maintenance, clothing, and housing of a revocably divorced woman are the same as those of a wife.” That is, her maintenance, clothing, and housing are like those of a wife. The evidence is Allah’s saying: “Their husbands have more right to take them back during this period” [al-Baqarah 2:228].

The point of evidence in the verse is that Allah calls the divorced men bu'ūlah (husbands). The basic presumption regarding an attribution is that it is literal. Thus, if you say, for example, “This is Zayd’s house,” the presumption is that the house belongs to him, unless there is evidence that it is rented, lent to him, or otherwise. Accordingly, revocably divorced women retain the legal status of wives.

His statement, “but she is not entitled to an allotted turn,” means that if a husband has other wives and gives one of them a revocable divorce, he is not obliged to allot her a turn.