The textual basis for ʿilāʾ is the Almighty’s words: “For those who swear abstinence from their wives there is a waiting period of four months. Then, if they go back, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful; but if they resolve upon divorce, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing” (Qurʾan 2:226–227).

In other words, husbands who swear to withhold intercourse from their wives are granted a respite of four months. If during that period they resume relations and pay the expiation due for their oaths, Allah forgives what has passed. Should the four months expire while they persist in abstention, they are brought before a judge, ordered to resume marital relations and to expiate their oaths; if they refuse, they are instructed—once the wife has demanded her right—to pronounce divorce.

This abrogates the pre-Islamic practice of stretching ʿilāʾ indefinitely. By this wise and just legislation, Islam lifts harm from the woman and removes the injustice done to her.

ʿIlāʾ itself is forbidden in Islam because it is an oath to abandon an obligatory duty.

A valid ʿilāʾ can be effected by any husband whose divorce is legally operative—whether he is Muslim or non-Muslim, free or enslaved, adult or a discerning minor who will be held accountable when he reaches puberty—and even by one who is angry or ill but expected to recover, all in light of the verse’s general wording. It applies as well in respect to a wife with whom he has already consummated the marriage.

Conversely, ʿilāʾ is not valid from a husband who is insane or unconscious, for they do not understand what they say and therefore lack intent. Nor is it valid from a husband who is physically incapable of intercourse—such as one who is emasculated or paralyzed—because his abstention is due to incapacity, not to an oath.

Thus, if a man says to his wife, “By Allah, I will never have intercourse with you,” or fixes a term longer than four months, or suspends his oath on something unlikely to occur within four months—such as the return of Jesus