a child born within another man’s marriage, as related in the hadith of ‘Utba. Disowning children born to one’s wife, however, is an entirely different matter. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ruled that mutual imprecation should be undertaken in such cases and attributed the child concerned to its mother rather than to the man within whose marriage it had been born. Success comes from Allah, exalted is He.

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There is disagreement over the period required to ascertain that a woman is not pregnant. Two positions are reported from Mālik: the first is that it is one menstrual period, which is the predominant position in the school; the second is that it is three menstrual periods. The latter is Ibn al-Mājishūn’s position, as reported by ‘Abd al-Wahhāb.

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Completion of the husband’s imprecation entails three legal consequences: first, the child’s attribution to him is removed; second, the prescribed punishment is waived for the husband; and third, the woman becomes liable to the prescribed punishment unless she too undertakes mutual imprecation.

There is disagreement over what brings about separation. The well-known position of Mālik and his disciples is that it takes effect upon completion of the wife’s imprecation following the husband’s. Accordingly, if the husband dies after undertaking his imprecation but before the wife undertakes hers, she inherits from him whether or not she subsequently undertakes it. This is the position of Rabī‘a and Mutarrif, and the view preferred by Ibn Habīb.

Another position is that separation takes effect upon completion of the husband’s imprecation, even if the wife does not undertake hers. This is al-Shāfi‘ī’s position, the apparent meaning of Mālik’s statement in his Muwatta’, and the position of ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās in al-Mudawwana. It is also Asbagh’s position in al-‘Utbiyya concerning a man who marries a woman during her waiting period, after which she gives birth and one of the two husbands undertakes imprecation: she becomes permanently forbidden to the one who undertook imprecation against her, even though she did not undertake it against him. Accordingly, if either spouse dies after completion of the husband’s imprecation, neither inherits from the other.

His statement in al-Mudawwana is: if the wife dies, the husband inherits from her; if the husband dies, the wife inherits from him if she has not undertaken imprecation. This entails that separation takes effect upon completion of the husband’s imprecation if the wife undertakes hers. Bear in mind, then, that three positions can be identified on this question.

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Separation through mutual imprecation is an annulment, not a divorce. It is permanent: the spouses may never reunite thereafter. This is the position of Mālik, all his disciples, and most scholars. The evidence for this is the statement of