the present case; yet if he has intercourse with three of them he becomes a mulwi with respect to the fourth. If any of the wives dies before intercourse takes place, the īlāʾ lapses. Should he say, “I will not have intercourse with each one of you,” he becomes a mulwi vis-à-vis every single wife. If he says to a wife, “I will not have intercourse with you for a year except once,” he is not a mulwi at that moment, according to the stronger view; but after he fulfils that single act of intercourse, if more than four months of the year remain, he does become a mulwi.

Section
He is granted a respite of four months from the moment the īlāʾ is pronounced and this requires no judicial ruling; in the case of a revocably divorced wife, the four months are counted from the date he takes her back. If either spouse apostatises after the period has begun, the count is interrupted; when the apostate returns to Islam, the count recommences.

Any state that bars intercourse without severing the marriage bond, if already present when the īlāʾ was made, does not halt the clock—such as fasting, iḥrām, illness, or insanity. If such an impediment arises during the four months and is physical, for instance the wife’s immaturity or a debilitating illness, it stops the count; once it is removed the period is restarted, although another opinion holds that the clock merely resumes from where it stopped. A purely legal impediment, such as menstruation or a voluntary fast, does not stop the count, whereas an obligatory fast does, according to the sounder position.

If he resumes intercourse within the four-month period, the matter ends; otherwise the wife may demand that he either resume marital relations or divorce her. Even if she had previously waived this right, she may invoke it later. Resumption (fiʾah) is effected by the penetration of the glans into the vagina.

No demand may be made while the wife herself is under an impediment to intercourse, such as menstruation or illness. If the obstacle lies with him—for example a natural disability like sickness—he must declare, “When I am able, I will resume.” But if the hindrance is legal, such as being in iḥrām, the authoritative view is that he must divorce her. Should he defy the court by having intercourse, the wife’s claim is extinguished. If he refuses both resumption and divorce, the stronger opinion is that the judge issues a single divorce on his behalf without granting him a three-day grace period. If, after the wife has filed her claim, he then has intercourse, he must pay the expiation for an oath.