to marry another until her waiting period has elapsed.

If a master marries off his bondwoman and she is later set free, she may choose whether to remain with her husband—be he free or enslaved. The same ruling applies to a slave-woman who is a mukātaba (under a manumission contract).

If, however, a bondwoman contracts her own marriage without her master’s permission and is then emancipated, the marriage is valid and she has no right of choice.

When a man concludes a single marriage contract with two women, one of whom he is forbidden to marry, the marriage with the lawful woman is valid and the other is void.

Should the wife herself have a defect, the husband is given no option. If the husband is afflicted with insanity, leprosy, or vitiligo, the wife—according to Abū Ḥanīfa and Abū Yūsuf—likewise has no option, but Muḥammad holds that she does. If the husband is impotent, the judge grants him one year; if he is able to have intercourse within that time the marriage stands, otherwise the judge separates them at the woman’s request.

Such a separation counts as an irrevocable divorce, and the wife is entitled to the full dower if seclusion has already occurred. If the husband is insane, the judge separates them at once with no period of grace, while a eunuch is given the same one-year respite as an impotent man.

If a woman becomes Muslim while her husband is an unbeliever, the judge invites him to Islam. Should he accept, she remains his wife; if he refuses, the judge separates them. In the view of Abū Ḥanīfa and Muḥammad this is an irrevocable divorce, whereas Abū Yūsuf regards it as a separation that is not a divorce.

If the husband embraces Islam while married to a Zoroastrian woman, the judge offers her Islam. If she accepts, she remains his wife; if she refuses, the judge separates them, and that separation is not deemed a divorce. If consummation had taken place, she is entitled to the dower; if not, she is entitled to nothing.

When a woman accepts Islam in enemy territory, no separation occurs until she has completed three menstrual cycles; once she has done so, she is separated from her husband.

If the husband of a Jewish or Christian woman becomes Muslim, their marriage continues unchanged.

If either spouse reaches Muslim territory from the land of war as a believer, permanent separation is effected between them; the same applies if only one of them is captured. If both are captured together, no separation occurs. Should the woman emigrate to Muslim territory, she may marry immediately, and according to Abū Ḥanīfa no waiting period is required—unless she is pregnant, in which case she must wait until delivery.

If either spouse apostasizes from Islam, separation occurs without divorce. If the apostate is the husband and the marriage has been consummated, the wife is entitled to the full dower; and if he had not consummated with her—