with them among the Companions, apart from another report transmitted from ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, stating that she may not marry until his death is known or enough time has passed that he could no longer be alive. The scholars of the East, and al-Shāfiʿī in one of his two opinions, relied on this report. What is reliably reported from ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, however, agrees with what is reported from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb and those we have mentioned alongside him. This is the correct position adopted by Mālik, because the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “There must be neither harm nor reciprocal harm.” He also said: “Adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs after me; hold fast to it with your molar teeth.” These reports thus provide the basis for ruling that the marriage bond between a woman and her missing husband is dissolved, and permitting her to marry despite the possibility that he is still alive. As for the argument from legal reasoning, if a man and his wife must be separated because of impotence or his oath to abstain from intercourse, when she has been deprived only of intercourse, separation is all the more necessary when her husband is missing, for she is deprived of intercourse, companionship, and care. Success comes through Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

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Once the ruler has set a term for the missing man’s wife after enquiries into his whereabouts, and that term has elapsed and she has observed her waiting period, she is legally separated from him on the basis of the apparent facts. She may then marry if she wishes, unless the judgment proves mistaken through his return or through learning that he is alive. She does not have the option of remaining bound to her husband in marriage, for she has become eligible to marry other men, and the judgment has made their separation binding. That judgment therefore stands and cannot be overturned unless it proves mistaken.

Do you not see that, if she died after the waiting period, no share of her estate would be held aside for him, even though, were he to return at that stage, he would have the prior claim to her? Likewise, if he reached an age at which he could no longer be alive while she was still living, she would not inherit from him. She may choose to remain bound by the marriage only before the appointed term has elapsed. Once it has elapsed and she has observed her waiting period, that option is no longer hers. The same applies if she continues beyond the waiting period. If she agrees to remain bound by the marriage before the end of