, a vow, and any other legal disposition. If he says, “O divorcée, if Allah wills,” the divorce takes effect according to the sounder opinion; whereas if he says, “You are divorced—unless Allah wills,” it does not take effect, again according to the sounder opinion.

Section

If a man is unsure whether he has pronounced a divorce, none is counted; and if he is unsure about the number of divorces, the lesser number is adopted—though God-fearing caution is plain.

Suppose he says, “If that bird is a crow, you are divorced,” and two other men each say, “If it is not a crow, my wife is divorced,” yet the true identity of the bird is unknown; in that case no divorce is adjudged for any of them. If one man makes the two conditional statements regarding his two wives, then one of them is divorced and he is obliged to investigate and clarify.

If he divorces one of them by name and later forgets which one, the matter is held in suspense until he remembers; and if we credit his claim of forgetfulness, he is not compelled to identify her.

If he says to his wife and to an unrelated woman, “One of you two is divorced,” and later explains, “I meant the unrelated woman,” his explanation is accepted according to the sounder view. But if he says, “Zaynab is divorced,” and then claims that he meant a different Zaynab who is unrelated to him, his claim is not accepted, according to the correct opinion.

When he addresses his two wives with the words, “One of you is divorced,” and he actually had a particular wife in mind, that wife is divorced; if he had no one in mind, an indeterminate divorce strikes one of them. In the first situation he must disclose whom he intended, and in the second he must make a fresh designation. Both women are kept apart from him until he clarifies or designates, and he must hasten to do so while maintaining them in the meantime. Divorce takes effect at the moment of utterance, though another opinion holds that, where there was no prior designation, it takes effect only when he designates.

Intercourse does not count as clarification or designation, although another view holds that it constitutes designation.

If, while pointing to one of them, he says, “This one is the divorced woman,” that counts as clarification; or if he says, “I meant this one and that one,” or, “This one—no, rather that one,” the ruling is that both of them are divorced.

Should both women—or one of them—die before clarification or designation, his obligation to clarify remains for the sake of distributing the estate. If he himself dies, the stronger view is that the heir’s statement is accepted for clarification, but not for designation.

If he declares, “If it is a crow, my wife is divorced; if not, my slave is free,” and the fact is unknown, both dispositions are suspended until clarification. Should he die, his heir’s statement is not accepted, according to the school; instead, lots are cast between the slave and the woman. If the lot falls to the slave, he is emancipated; if it falls to the woman, she is not divorced—and the sounder opinion is that the slave does not revert to bondage.