action to be taken against him until four months have elapsed, when he must be required to decide: either he resumes intercourse or he divorces her.’” This is the position of the scholars of Medina, al-Shāfi‘ī, Abū Thawr, Abū ‘Ubayd, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh. They understand Allah’s words, “If they return” [al-Baqarah: 226], to mean after the four months. Reports from Mālik differ on this matter, but his well-known position is what we have already mentioned: the four months allow him latitude, and he is required to decide only after they have elapsed.

It is also reported from him that the husband has latitude to resume intercourse during the four months; once they have elapsed, a divorce is pronounced against him, and he is not instructed to resume intercourse thereafter. This is the position of Ibn Shubrumah. Similar views are reported from Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyab, Abū Bakr ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān, Makhūl, and Ibn Shihāb. Ibn Khuwayz Mindād related both reports from Mālik in his book Ahkām al-Qur’ān. In al-‘Utbiyyah, Ashhab reports from Mālik that, if the husband is required to decide after the four months have elapsed and says, “I will resume intercourse,” he is granted respite until her waiting period expires. If he does not do so, she becomes irrevocably separated from him upon its expiry. This is an intermediate position between the two views, adopted by way of juristic preference rather than analogical reasoning.

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According to Mālik’s well-known position, if the husband is required to decide but neither resumes intercourse nor divorces her, the ruler pronounces a single revocable divorce against him. Other scholars say that he is imprisoned until he either resumes intercourse or divorces her. The scholars of Iraq hold that a single irrevocable divorce takes effect against a man who has sworn to abstain from his wife as soon as the prescribed period expires. Among the Companions, this was the position of Ibn Mas‘ūd and Zayd ibn Thābit; a similar view is reported from ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī. These scholars therefore understand Allah’s words, “If they return” [al-Baqarah: 226], to mean before the four months have elapsed.

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According to their view, His words, “Then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” [al-Baqarah: 226], mean that He forgives them for the wrong they committed by swearing to abstain from intercourse with their wives, and for breaking their oaths by resuming it; He is merciful to them and to His other Muslim servants. Another interpretation is that “All-Forgiving” refers specifically to what occurs after the four months, since Allah Most High has permitted the husband who swears such an oath to wait four months. Forgiveness applies only to something prohibited for which no prior permission has been given. This interpretation supports the well-known position of Mālik and those who followed him, namely that