Section
If, however, this was stipulated as a condition binding upon him in the marriage contract, it likewise falls into the categories already mentioned, with the same rulings applying except in two respects. First, the husband may not contest her decision. Second, there is agreement that the delegation is not binding if it is qualified by a condition known to be impossible. An example is her stipulating that, if he marries another woman, her marital affairs will be in her own hands if he touches the sky, or something similar. This is because she has stipulated something from which she derives no benefit.
Section
The husband has the right to contest her decision subject to three conditions: first, that the delegation was not stipulated as a condition binding upon him; second, that he claims an intention he held at the time of delegation; and third, that he contests her decision immediately. If he fails to do so until a considerable time has elapsed, he may no longer contest it. Mālik’s differing opinions concerning a wife vested with this authority do not apply to this matter, as Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān stated. May Allah Most High have mercy on Mālik.
Section
When a man gives his wife the choice or delegates authority to her, he places in her hands the authority to divorce that was previously his. If she responds during that sitting or afterwards—provided she has neither been required to decide nor allowed him to have intercourse with her, according to one of Mālik’s two opinions—her response can take one of ten forms:
First, she explicitly pronounces one or three divorces. Second, she responds using an indirect expression for divorce. Third, she responds with words that may or may not be intended to effect divorce. Fourth, she responds with words that may mean three divorces, or one or two. Fifth, she responds with words wholly unrelated to divorce. Sixth, she gives no verbal response but performs an act resembling a response. Seventh, she makes her choice subject to a condition. Eighth, she qualifies her acceptance. Ninth, she entrusts the matter to someone else. Tenth, she explicitly chooses her husband.