Section

The husband has the right to take his wife back after any divorce that brings the total number of divorces to fewer than three, provided that the marriage has been consummated and she is still within her waiting period. This right applies unless the divorce involves compensation or, according to Ibn al-Qāsim, takes the form of mubāraʾa (mutual release) or fidya (release by ransom), even without compensation. The waiting period consists of three menstrual cycles, understood by Mālik and the scholars of Medina as three periods of purity. Thus, when the woman sees the first drop of blood from her third menstrual period, her waiting period has ended, her separation from her husband has become irrevocable, and she may marry another man.

Ashhab, however, recommended that she not hasten to remarry until she knows that this is an established menstrual period and that the bleeding continues. A woman may see blood for an hour, two hours, or a day, and then it stops; she must then return to her home, and her husband retains the right to take her back. A similar statement appears in his transmission from Mālik in the Book of Divorce in Accordance with the Sunnah.

The teachers whose lessons we attended used to explain Ashhab’s statement as a clarification of Ibn al-Qāsim’s position. The correct view, however, is that it differs from his position, because Ibn al-Qāsim sets no minimum duration for menstruation. It may last a day or an hour, or consist of a mere spot of blood, provided that it is preceded by a separating period of purity [and followed by a separating period of purity]. Thus, when the woman sees the first drop of blood from her third menstrual period, her waiting period has ended, she may marry another man, and her husband no longer has the right to take her back.

According to his position, there is no reason to recommend that she wait until the bleeding continues for several days. Were it to stop after an hour or two, her husband would still have no right to take her back, nor would she be obliged to return to her home. For if the bleeding stops and then returns, it must return either after a short interval or after a long one. If it returns soon, before enough days have elapsed to constitute a separating period of purity, it is counted together with the earlier bleeding, and the intervening days are disregarded. It is then established that the earlier bleeding marked the beginning of the third menstrual period and that her waiting period ended with it. If it returns after a longer interval, once enough days have elapsed to constitute a separating period of purity, this bleeding constitutes a fourth menstrual period. It is then established that the earlier bleeding was the third menstrual period and that her waiting period ended with it. Refraining from marriage is therefore required only according to those who stipulate a minimum duration for menstruation and do not recognize anything shorter than that