where authority was delegated to her, but has no effect where she was given the choice. The third opinion is that she is not asked in either case, and it counts as one divorce, which takes effect where authority was delegated to her but has no effect where she was given the choice. If, during that sitting, she says, โI intended three divorces,โ it counts as three, unless he contests her decision in the case of delegated authority. This is Ibn al-Qฤsimโs position in al-Wฤdiha. The fourth opinion is that she is not asked in either case, and it counts as three divorces unless she says during that sitting, โI intended one,โ in which case it has no effect where she was given the choice. This is Asbaghโs position in al-Wฤdiha. The fifth opinion is that, where authority was delegated to her, she is not asked, and it counts as one divorce unless she intended more, in which case the husband is entitled to contest her decision. Where she was given the choice, however, she is asked. If she says, โI intended three divorces,โ her statement is accepted and it counts as three. If she says, โI intended one or two,โ or โI had no particular intention,โ or if they leave the sitting before she is asked, her choice lapses.
If she says, โI am divorced,โ she is not asked in either case. It counts as one divorce, which takes effect where authority was delegated to her but has no effect where she was given the choiceโunless she says during that sitting, โI intended three divorces.โ In that event, it takes effect where she was given the choice, while in the case of delegated authority the husband is entitled to contest her decision. I know of no explicit statement of a differing opinion on this.
If she says, โI have chosen divorce,โ my view, in light of their principles, is that she should be asked in cases of both delegated authority and choice. The definite article here may refer to divorce as a whole, in which case it amounts to three divorces; or it may refer to a specific kind, namely the legally prescribed divorce in accordance with the Sunnah, in which case it amounts to one. Since the wording admits both meanings, she must be asked which she intended. If she says, โI had no particular intention,โ it counts as three divorces according to Asbaghโs position in al-Wฤdiha. Ibn al-Qฤsimโs position in al-Mudawwana concerning a woman who says, โI have divorced myself,โ without any particular intention is that it counts as one divorce. The definite article may also refer specifically to the divorce over which she was granted authority, in which case it amounts to three divorces. Ibn Zarb used to refrain from answering this question, since he had found nothing concerning it in al-Mudawwana or al-โUtbiyya, until he found in al-โUtbiyya something that, in his estimation, indicated that